Miles to Go Before I Sleep
by StrawberryPajamas
Summary: Sirius Black has called on the advice of sweet yet naive Emmeline Vance to help him out with the beautiful, elusive Siobhan Burke. His plan seems perfect, but spending time with Emmeline may make him realize things about himself he didn't previously know. And most surprisingly of all, he may just do the same for her. A Sirius/Emmeline love story, Marauders-era. Now complete.
1. Chapter 1

_The woods are lovely, dark and deep  
But I have promises to keep  
And miles to go before I sleep  
And miles to go before I sleep_

-Robert Frost

**Wednesday**

**September 15****th**

**9:22 am**

* * *

The day felt fresh and warm to Emmeline Vance – like spring had arrived again just for the day, but without the wet mud and rain and thunderstorms. The sky, instead, was a periwinkle blue, the lake still and beautiful, and the grounds outside as lovely and green as could be hoped for. Emmeline breathed it all in as she walked down a corridor with Marlene McKinnon and Lily Evans.

"What are you so happy about?" Lily gave Emmeline a disgruntled look. They were heading to Transfiguration, where they had to hand in a tricky essay assigned by McGonagall the previous week. "Figured out the incongruities of turning a camel into a soapbox, have we?"

"It's just a nice day out," Marlene spoke up for her best friend, whom she knew like the back of her hand. Emmeline merely grinned.

Lily still looked grumpy about McGonagall's essay, however, and Emmeline's smile faded slightly.

"It's alright, Lily. We all struggled with that essay," she said encouragingly. "Even if you do get a bad grade, it couldn't be much worse than the rest of ours."

"I s'pose not," Lily muttered once they reached the classroom. Students were milling around the front, and among them were the four Marauders. Lily rolled her eyes when she noticed them, but Emmeline smiled and stepped forward, waving at Lupin:

"Hey Remus – how'd you do on the essay?"

"Horrible," came his chipper reply. "Didn't understand a word McGonagall said!"

"See Lily?" Emmeline turned back to her friend. "Even Remus didn't do that well. You should be fine."

Lily still looked determined to be in a bad mood, however, and Marlene dragged Emmeline away, saying that Lily 'needed some time to stew'.

"Not everybody wants to be cheered up all the time, Em," Marlene said knowledgeably as they made their way into the classroom, sitting down at a desk near the front. "Anger relieves stress and anxiety – just give Lily some space, she'll be fine by lunch."

Emmeline felt very skeptical of this logic, but decided to just leave the subject alone. The rest of the class filed in: Sirius Black and James Potter as usual grabbed a desk together near the back, while Remus and Peter Pettigrew sat directly behind Marlene and Emmeline. Lily was sitting at a desk by herself when Siobhan Burke, a beautiful red-haired girl in their year, took the seat beside her. Lily didn't acknowledge Siobhan, but her mouth twisted slightly as she pulled out her materials from her bag. Several boys, including Sirius Black, were staring unashamedly at her as she set her bag down and took out her Transfiguration notes, flipping her long curly hair casually behind her shoulder.

"Damn," Siobhan whispered to herself while searching through her bag. She then looked up at Emmeline and flashed her a simpering smile, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Hey Emmy – could you be a dear and lend me a quill? Pretty please?"

"Sure Siobhan," Emmeline said, ignoring Marlene as she rolled her eyes. Emmeline reached over and handed her a quill.

"Thanks Emmy," Siobhan smirked before taking her seat again.

"_Emmy_," Marlene mouthed, lip curled, and Emmeline shot her a look. They both knew Emmeline heartily disliked that nickname.

"Just leave it, Marlene."

"Stop being so _nice_ to her, she's not worth it," Marlene whispered.

"It's just a quill. Who cares?"

"She walks all over you. It's obvious," Marlene insisted, but Emmeline couldn't say anything back as McGonagall suddenly walked in to begin the lesson.

"Good morning, students," the teacher said briskly as she strode into the classroom. "Quiet down please, and bring your essays to the front."

There was a great scraping of chairs as everyone got up to give her their essays. Emmeline saw Lily scowl as she got up from her seat.

"Ready to fail 6th year already?" Marlene smirked at Emmeline as they made their way to the front. Emmeline rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same.

"I guess we'll see."

* * *

An hour later, the bell rang, and the Gryffindor sixth years headed out of the Transfiguration classroom as the rest of the student body flooded the corridors. James and Sirius met up with Remus and Peter, and the four of them moved along with the crowd that was jostling its way toward the Great Hall for lunch. As the four Marauders headed downstairs, they talked about the eventful class they just had.

"I don't care what McGonagall says, that pig was totally Transfigured into a trestle table," Sirius insisted.

"It was squealing like mad and still had a curly pink tail," Remus pointed out.

"Leave Padfoot alone, Moony," James put his arm around his best friend's shoulders. "He tried his best!"

"Yeah, anything can be a table if you try hard enough!" Peter remarked, and the other boys burst out laughing.

"Guys – shut up," Sirius suddenly stopped laughing: he had spotted Siobhan Burke nearby, and his attention was suddenly all on her. He motioned for his friends to stop horsing around once she was next to him.

"Hey Siobhan," he said to her casually. She glanced over at him.

"Oh, hi," she said unsmilingly. There was a short silence between them.

"So… what'd you think of Transfiguration? Bit difficult, yeah?" Sirius ran a hand through his hair, wishing fervently he hadn't just brought up something as dumb as schoolwork.

"I guess," Siobhan shrugged slightly. A moment later, she walked away, disappearing into the crowd of students without a word of parting.

"Wow, that was rude," Remus remarked once she was gone. Peter shook his head.

"Sorry mate," James muttered bracingly to Sirius, whom he knew was affected by Siobhan's cold shoulder. Sirius tried to not let it show, however.

"She'll be back," he said confidently. "I'll get to her eventually."

"I think that's what Prongs keeps saying about Lily," Remus smirked, causing Peter to laugh. James just ignored them.

~/~

The four of them had reached the Great Hall, where students were eating lunch. The sounds of talking and laughing and clinking cutlery surrounded them as they made their way to the Gryffindor table.

"Hey Marlene – hey Amal," Remus greeted the couple as he sat down opposite them. James and Sirius took the seats to his right and Peter squeezed on the seat to his left, which was partially blocked by a hefty seventh-year girl.

"Hey guys," Marlene smiled, but her smile dropped slightly when she noticed James and Sirius. Sirius was seated facing away on the bench, casually leaning back with his elbows on the table. James simply wore an indifferent expression, mussing his hair in that way he thought was so cool.

"What's up with them?" Amal frowned at Sirius and James. Amal Singh was a sixth year boy from Hufflepuff. He and Marlene had been dating for about five months, and Remus thought he was a nice guy, however Amal wasn't always on the best of terms with the other Marauders.

"Oh, just girl problems," Remus smirked. Marlene and Amal rolled their eyes at each other.

"Is Evans around?" James asked in a would-be casual voice, but the others saw right through him.

"She's in the library," Amal said. "She wanted to check over her Transfiguration notes again to make sure her essay was accurate."

James looked disappointed, but not surprised. He recovered by putting a large piece of shepherd's pie on his plate.

"What's up with Sirius?" Marlene asked, looking at the back of his dark head. "I thought he and Isabel LeCarré had worked things out."

"She's nice, but I don't think things are going to work out between us," Sirius scratched his chin apathetically, glancing to his left. "I'm considering Siobhan Burke now."

Marlene and Amal both busted out laughing. "Good luck, mate," Amal said, still shaking with laughter. "Once 'Her Highness' steps down from her throne to acknowledge us peasants, let me know."

"I like a challenge," Sirius said simply, turning around to face the table. If he was hurt by them making fun of him, he didn't show it, and their laughter soon dissipated.

"It's not a good idea, Sirius," Marlene warned, taking a crumpet from a nearby platter and putting it on her plate. "Siobhan's a piece of work: she doesn't talk to anyone except for Emmeline, and Emmeline doesn't even like her very much."

"Emmeline…?" Sirius frowned at Marlene, uncomprehending. Remus, Marlene, Amal, and Peter all stopped eating and stared at Sirius.

"Are you kidding?" Remus said dubiously after a moment. "Emmeline Vance? Blonde girl in our year? A good friend of ours… ring any bells?"

"Mm, oh yeah," Sirius said vaguely, nodding. He recalled that girl always hanging around Marlene and Lily, but never really gave her much thought. Marlene scoffed, clearly offended. Remus and Amal both shook their heads.

"So where _is_ Emmeline?" James asked Marlene, hoping to distract from his best friend's tactlessness. "Isn't she usually sitting with you guys?"

"Siobhan dragged her away. They're over there," Marlene nodded towards the other end of the table, scowling. "God knows what they're talking about."

Sirius leaned over to see where Marlene was indicating. Siobhan was a long ways away, sitting across from the blonde girl he now remembered was Emmeline. Siobhan was talking animatedly about something, and Emmeline was sitting there in silence, nodding politely.

"Why are they friends, even?" Remus frowned, looking over at them too. "Emmeline's really nice, and Siobhan's always been very… self-sufficient."

"Emmeline's _too_ nice. That's the problem," Marlene insisted. "She's terrified of disappointing people, so she doesn't realize when people like Siobhan use her as a means to an end."

Sirius listened to Marlene while still looking over at Siobhan and Emmeline. A sudden idea sparked in his brain, and he was beginning to look at Emmeline Vance in a whole new light. She was the only person in Hogwarts Siobhan talked to – that meant she had insight on Siobhan no one else had. Her inside knowledge on the most beautiful and elusive girl in this school could prove to be very valuable. Sirius suddenly felt hopeful.

"…'A means to an end'," Sirius repeated, a grin slowly appearing on his face. "Right."

* * *

**Fun fact: 'Siobhan' is actually pronounced 'Shiv-vawn' and not 'Sow-bahn' as I initially thought. Feel stupid? Well, you're not alone. **

**This is my first fanfic in a really really long time, so I hope you guys like it! Please leave a review, I would seriously appreciate it, and it will let me know if I should continue writing this story. **

**Thanks very much! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Rachel Elizabeth: **Thank you so much for reviewing! Here's the next chapter for you:)

**Thursday**

**September 16****th**

**7:45 pm**

* * *

Siobhan and Emmeline were walking together down a corridor after dinner. Siobhan was blathering on about the things she hated about school while Emmeline simply walked beside her, listening silently :

"I mean, I realize we're supposed to be Charms partners and everything, but Bradley Trent is a real wanker," Siobhan whined. "Seriously, he can't do a Banishing Charm for the life of him! I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but I want to get good marks like any other student! I'm going to fail my NEWTS if that stupid prat is my partner. I'm going to ask Flitwick if I can switch…"

Emmeline frowned to herself. She knew Bradley Trent as the nice guy she swapped wizard cards with once in a while, and had an urge to defend him. She didn't want to contradict Siobhan, however, and remained silent.

"I wish _you _were my partner, Emmy," Siobhan pretended to pout, hooking her arm with Emmeline's. "Then neither of us would fail. And we could spend way more time together! Oh my God, wouldn't that be _so_ much fun?"

"Yeah," Emmeline forced a smile. "Definitely! But Remus and I are partners already, and we work pretty well together. I'd hate to let him down."

"Eurgh, that's so unfair," Siobhan sulkily let go of Emmeline's arm. "Why can't _I _be compatible with a guy? Every boy in this school is a complete wanker…" she suddenly looked at Emmeline, her eyes wide. "Wait, do you _like_ Remus? Is that why you always want to partner with him?"

"What? No," Emmeline felt surprised, and quickly explained: "Remus and I are friends, we have been for years. And I already have a boyfriend, as you well know."

"You do?" Siobhan looked amazed. "Who is he?"

Siobhan always seemed to forget Emmeline was dating someone, and Emmeline always had to find the patience to remind her: "Reggie Cartwell. He's a Ravenclaw, and we've been together for about two years. You've met him before," she added.

"Hm…" Siobhan pushed her long hair back, thinking. "Is he that really short bloke?"

Reggie was over six feet tall, but Emmeline decided not to correct her. As friendly as she was to Siobhan, there was a limit to how much of her she could tolerate. They had reached the library, and Emmeline, who had a lot of homework to do, decided to say goodbye. The two parted ways, and Emmeline felt substantially happier as she made her way alone into one of her favorite places in the school.

~/~

She had found a small, secluded corner of the library, and had settled herself at a table with all of her homework spread out in front of her. She even opted to put on her thick black reading glasses as she got down to work on an Astronomy chart citing Jupiter's moons, a Potions essay about the uses of bicorn horn, two Arithmancy diagrams, and a Defense Against the Dark Arts reading about Unforgivable Curses.

She had been working for hours, and was so engrossed in her work that she hardly noticed someone approaching her table. She realized someone was there only when they spoke up:

"Hey Emmeline."

Emmeline looked up from her work, about to push her glasses up her nose, but stopped when she noticed who was speaking to her. Whoever she was expecting, it definitely wasn't the person standing in front of her right now. "Oh… hi."

Sirius Black was leaning against a nearby bookshelf, hands in his pockets. She watched his eyes drift over her table covered in schoolwork. "What are you doing?"

Emmeline, more than a little confused, glanced down at the book in front of her. "Oh, erm… Arithmancy."

"Ah," Sirius nodded, meandering toward her table and glancing over her work. "That's impressive – I never bothered with Arithmancy, but Remus says it's one of the most difficult classes he's ever taken."

He picked up a diagram and examined it interestedly, plopping himself in the chair opposite Emmeline. She stared at him.

"I'm sorry, but… is Remus looking for me or something?" Emmeline asked as politely as she could, believing that to be the only explanation as to why he was here right now. She and Sirius had never exactly been on the friendliest terms – it wasn't that she didn't like him or anything, she just thought he had better things to do with his time than talk to average girls like her. Before now, she didn't even know he knew she existed.

"No, actually…" Sirius set down the diagram, looking back up at Emmeline. "I was hoping to get your advice on something."

Her advice? That was unexpected. Although Emmeline couldn't help but feel a bit flattered that one of the most popular boys in school was approaching her for her insight. She straightened up in her seat and pushed her glasses back up her nose. "Oh! Yeah, absolutely. Is this about schoolwork or something?"

Sirius looked a little taken aback, but recovered slightly: "Oh, no… I just… I was hoping to talk to you about Siobhan Burke."

Sirius scratched the back of his head, and Emmeline blinked, realizing what he was on about. "Oh."

"I know you're just about the only person she talks to," Sirius went on. "And I thought maybe you could help me out a bit. Just give me some advice about what she likes, or… or let me in on what she's looking for in a bloke."

Emmeline, remembering the conversation she had had earlier with Siobhan, definitely did not feel like getting drawn into this territory again. She gave him an apologetic smile, "That's really sweet of you Sirius, but… I don't think I can help you. I'm really sorry, but I know Siobhan, and I know she definitely isn't looking for a relationship right now…"

Despite her apology, Sirius didn't look discouraged. "Oh no, that's okay!" He insisted, "We don't have to start a relationship right _now_. I was just hoping to know a little bit more about her. Y'know, so we could try to establish a connection, maybe?"

Emmeline smiled, feeling touched by his effort. "Wow, I didn't realize you liked her so much."

Sirius scratched the back of his head again, grimacing. "Er… yeah."

"Okay, listen," Emmeline lowered her voice, and Sirius leaned in. "I know for a fact Siobhan hates her Charms partner, Bradley. So she's planning on asking Flitwick for a new one. _Please_ don't tell her I told you." Emmeline added when Sirius' face suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree. "I don't want her to think I'm betraying her trust or anything…"

"No, of course not," Sirius said, looking positively delighted. "This is fantastic! Oh my God, thank you!" He leapt up from the table, still grinning happily.

"You're not going to tell her?" Emmeline asked apprehensively, and Sirius shook his head.

"No – it'll be our little secret," he promised, smiling widely at her, and Emmeline smiled tentatively back. "Oh this is so great. Thank you, Em, you're the best…!"

He turned and hurried away, probably off to find Siobhan and ask about being her new partner. Emmeline, still in a small amount of shock about what just happened, began to pack up her things. She vaguely wondered what Marlene would say if she knew what had just occurred.

"Boys," she muttered to herself, smiling and shaking her head.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I would love to know what you guys think so far, so please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Special thanks to everyone who followed and favorited this story! Enjoy this next chapter.**

**Thursday**

**September 16****th**

**11:25 pm**

**Gryffindor Tower: Girl's Dormitory**

* * *

"Are you serious?" Marlene stared at Emmeline from her bed. "He actually spoke with you?"

"Yeah," Emmeline nodded, propping herself up on her pillow. "He wanted me to give him some advice about Siobhan."

"But you didn't actually help him, did you?" Marlene said dubiously, as if the notion of her best friend assisting Sirius Black in any capacity was ridiculous.

"Of course I did," Emmeline said. "Why wouldn't I? He seemed desperate for information about her, and I didn't want to let him down."

"What did he say exactly?"

Emmeline thought for a moment, "He wanted to know if she was interested in a relationship, and what she was looking in a guy."

Marlene shook her head. "But did he ask if she was interested in _him_?" She raised an eyebrow skeptically.

Emmeline hesitated – come to think of it, why didn't he ask that?

"I… I think so…?" she said unconvincingly.

"Well, I think Sirius was using you," Marlene said, nettled. "Remus and Amal have told me a lot of stories about what he gets up to. He lies to and manipulates girls to get what he wants before breaking their hearts. He doesn't care about Siobhan one jot – she's just pretty enough to be a trophy girlfriend."

Emmeline frowned. "That's not true! Sirius wasn't being manipulative or anything – I think he legitimately fancies Siobhan."

Marlene still looked skeptical, and Emmeline's resolve was fading fast. Could it be possible that Sirius was just using her as a means to an end? She thought she was helping him, but maybe that was his intention all along…

"If you want to know what I think, Em…" Marlene looked over at her friend, and Emmeline looked back. "Don't give him any more advice about Siobhan. You'd just be enabling him, and everyone's going to end up hurt. Seriously – it would be better for you if he just stayed away."

Marlene often gave Emmeline talks like this: ones that helped her understand her own naivete about other people and the real world. She knew Marlene did this out of love, and Emmeline could honestly appreciate them when she knew it was important. She nodded to show Marlene she would not talk to Sirius again, but when the two turned off their lamps and shut their hangings to go to sleep, Emmeline lay awake, thinking over their conversation:

Everyone believed Sirius Black to be a liar who manipulated girls, but for a moment in the library, Emmeline thought maybe he wasn't as horrible as people said he was. He sounded legitimately interested in Siobhan – but perhaps that was just her being naive about other people again. Emmeline had never spoken with Sirius before, so it was perfectly plausible that he had tricked her into helping him. He probably thought she was an idiot who was easily pushed around by others, and that's why he decided to take advantage of her…

The very idea that someone could fool her like that so easily was embarrassing to say the least, and Emmeline lay awake for several hours afterward, fretting over the issue.

* * *

Emmeline woke up late the next morning, seeing as she didn't get much sleep the night before. Her conversation with Marlene stayed in the back of her mind as she rushed to get dressed and pack her bag for the day, hoping she could have a bit of breakfast before Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Most of the students at the Gryffindor table had already gotten up to leave for class when Emmeline finally arrived, but the Marauders were still seated towards the back, laughing and joking around with each other as usual. Emmeline checked her watch, and was tempted to just grab an apple and rush to the third floor for class, when she heard her name being called:

"Em! There you are!"

Reggie Cartwell, Emmeline's boyfriend, waved to her through the crowd of students. Emmeline waved back, and Reggie pushed through a gaggle of Hufflepuff fourth-years to get to her.

"Hey, I was hoping to eat breakfast with you, but you never showed!" Reggie grinned as Emmeline kissed him hello. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just overslept," Emmeline said lightheartedly, deciding not to mention her talk with Marlene.

"Hope you're not coming down with something," He looked at her, concerned, and Emmeline smiled at his thoughtfulness. Before she could reassure him she was okay, however, a voice nearby spoke up:

"Reg! C'mon – we're gonna be late!"

Emmeline noticed a large group of Ravenclaw seventh-year students standing several yards away, waiting for Reggie to finish talking to his girlfriend. Emmeline frowned at them.

"Who're they?"

Reggie glanced over, "Oh, just some friends," He said, shrugging casually. He tried to sound offhand, but Emmeline knew Reggie fairly well. His group of immediate friends never exceeded more than three people: his fellow Chasers on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and herself. The fact that a whole group of people were waiting for her boyfriend to come to class with them was strange to say the least.

"Oh…"

"Look, we have to get to Care of Magical Creatures – feel better, okay?" He said hurriedly, and Emmeline, not knowing what else to say, just nodded. They kissed goodbye before Reggie turned and ran back to his group of friends. Emmeline just watched him leave.

_First Sirius, now Reggie… I guess I underestimate everybody_. Emmeline thought sadly.

Checking her watch again, Emmeline realized she only had a few minutes left before class started. She quickly grabbed a pear from a nearby fruit bowl and rushed out of the Great Hall, hoping the rest of the day wouldn't be as bad as it was turning out to be so far.

* * *

**Friday**

**September 17**

**5:47 pm**

"I forget – who was the witch who sang 'Dragonfire Love'?" Marlene frowned, thinking. She and Emmeline were done with their final class of the day, and were now walking down to the Great Hall together for dinner.

"Claudina Bellesnap," Emmeline said quickly. "I have her album."

"Of course you do," Marlene smiled, rolling her eyes. "I just bring it up because Amal kept mentioning that song to me last night. I think he wants to make it _our _song."

"That's cute," Emmeline smiled. "Just so long as Amal doesn't make me and him dance to it at Slughorn's Christmas party again."

Marlene whipped around to face Emmeline, eyes wide. "What? No, you guys have to dance again! That was _amazing_, when you two did that routine to 'Magic Mayhem' last year! Everyone was talking about it the next day – seriously, you guys are really talented!"

"We drank too much butterbeer," Emmeline shook her head, smirking to herself. "It was embarrassing…"

"No, it wasn't! Remus, tell Emmeline she's an good dancer," Marlene suddenly said to Remus, who was passing by in the opposite direction with James and Peter.

"Oh, you're talking about 'Magic Mayhem'?" Remus grinned. "I remember – that was seriously cool, Em!"

"Yeah, you and Amal _owned _that night," James smirked. Peter, who hadn't been to Slughorn's party, only nodded in agreement.

"Told you," Marlene crossed her arms smugly, and Emmeline shoved her playfully.

"Hey, where's your other mate?" Marlene turned to ask the boys, referring to Sirius.

James rolled his eyes. "He's working his 'charms' on Siobhan Burke in the Charms corridor."

Emmeline giggled, "Clever."

"Thanks. C'mon guys," James motioned for the other two guys to follow him upstairs. "We've got planning to do. See you girls later."

"Wait – planning for what?" Marlene asked, but the guys didn't answer as they hurried toward Gryffindor Tower. She watched them leave before shaking her head, "Whatever."

"Probably an elaborate prank on Snape or something," Emmeline suggested. They continued their trek towards the Great Hall, when Marlene noticed Professor McGonagall walking down the corridor up ahead. She suddenly remembered she needed to talk to her about the Transfiguration essay and she ran ahead, calling behind her: "I'll meet you at dinner!" Emmeline was now left to walk down to the Great Hall alone.

After continuing down several flights of stairs, Emmeline had reached the first floor landing near the Charms corridor. She heard voices coming from a nearby classroom, but Emmeline decidedly wasn't one to eavesdrop. She continued walking, but before she could pass by, a door to her right burst open and Siobhan Burke stormed out of the room, nose in the air. She didn't see Emmeline as she stalked away, and Emmeline didn't call out to her. Instead, when Siobhan had disappeared around the corner, she hesitantly moved toward the open door and peered inside:

As she thought, Sirius Black was in there. He was leaning against the adjacent wall with his arms crossed; even though his posture was causal, he glared at the opposite wall, his expression thoroughly annoyed.

"Sirius?"

He glanced over at her. "Hey."

"Is everything alright?" She took a tentative step inside. "I just saw Siobhan leaving."

"Everything's great," Sirius uncrossed his arms and ran a hand through his hair. "Everything is bloody _fantastic_…"

Emmeline didn't say anything as Sirius stood upright and began to pace back and forth along a portion of the room. He suddenly whipped his wand out, waved it at a desk, and its chair shot out towards him. He sat down on it roughly, still scowling. Emmeline could guess what had transpired in the room between them before she arrived, and she desperately wanted to set things right, despite the fact she wasn't technically involved.

"How can you be friends with her?" Sirius suddenly asked bitterly, and Emmeline knew he was referring to Siobhan. She smiled humorlessly.

"She doesn't really give me much choice." Sirius gave a short laugh like a bark, and Emmeline giggled.

"Do you know what she called me?" he asked, and Emmeline shook her head. "I believe the exact phrasing was 'a malevolent toadspawn fit to be a Slytherin'."

Emmeline looked appalled. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing!" Sirius insisted. "I just followed your advice and brought up being her new Charms partner. She went completely mental and yelled at me to stay the hell away from her before storming out…"

Sirius glowered, and Emmeline said nothing. She had seen on several occasions Siobhan respond to guys flirting with her in this fashion. It was her way of testing a boy's affection, and Emmeline could not understand it for the life of her.

"Love can be tricky sometimes," she muttered, only half-joking, but Sirius smiled all the same.

"Apparently so," he mumbled sarcastically, resting his elbows on his knees and staring at his feet. He suddenly looked up. "What do you think?"

Emmeline was caught off guard by his question, but considered it all the same. What _did_ she think? Siobhan was by no means an ideal choice of girlfriend, and Emmeline honestly thought Sirius was wrong for trying to pursue her. He seemed persistent, however, and Emmeline wanted to give him an answer that would help him try to win her over:

"Well," she said slowly. "Siobhan is… a bit difficult to understand. But perhaps she's just trying to test you. You know, to see if you've changed."

Sirius was still staring at Emmeline, but his expression had suddenly turned stony. "What do you mean 'changed'?"

Emmeline, realizing what she had said, quickly tried to explain: "Well… I mean… I guess she maybe doesn't want to just be seen as a trophy girlfriend, or something…"

Sirius now looked angry, and Emmeline fervently wished she had kept her mouth shut. "Oh, so I'm just some bloke who collects 'trophy girlfriends'? That's what you think of me?"

"What? N-no…!" Emmeline stammered. Why did she have to say that?

"Well, clearly you do, seeing as you think I need to _change_!" Sirius got furiously to his feet. "But of course, you seem to know me _so well_, considering we've had a grand total of one conversation before now…!"

"Sirius, please! I didn't mean it like that," Emmeline stood up as well, very close to tears. Sirius ignored her, however, and moved towards the door.

"Y'know, Remus said you were someone who gave good advice," Sirius suddenly turned to look at Emmeline from the doorway. "Clearly he was wrong."

Without another word he turned and stalked out of the classroom, leaving Emmeline quite alone, and it was the bitter disappointment she heard penetrating his voice that made the tears begin to stream down her face.

* * *

**Dramatic endings are the best:) If you like this story so far, please leave a review, and I will continue writing! Thanks a bunch!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Savannah's Angels: **Thank you so much! Here it is for you:)

**YouAreMyRevolution: **Thanks! I'm very happy with how this story is turning out so far. Hope you like this next chapter!

**Iceandfire 105: **Thank you! Sirius is a pretty complicated character, I think – I hope to develop him a bit more over the course of this fic. Hope you enjoy this next chapter!

**Guest: **All this speculation… I love it!:) Lol you'll just have to wait and see how the rest of this story goes, but in the meantime, here's the next chapter!

**Saturday**

**September 18****th**

**8:35 pm**

* * *

Sirius Black knew he had a bit of an anger issue. While most of the time he felt happy joking around with his friends, he knew he was easily capable of lashing out when irritated. Growing up a Black hadn't exactly made him soft-hearted – he was used to fighting when angry or provoked, and despite the fact he was now estranged from his family, his need to lash out when angry never went away. However, he often tried to convince himself it was the hound in him that made him so fierce and authoritative. Not to mention the people who ended up on the receiving end of his rages were most often people who deserved it – like his parents or his brother, or Snivellus.

After lashing out at Emmeline, however… well, Sirius didn't know what to think about that.

He had stormed away after snapping at her, and for a while afterward, felt justified in his anger – who was she to judge him? But, after returning to Gryffindor Tower, he was able to think more clearly, and after distinctly remembering the look on Emmeline's face when he was yelling at her, his defensive stance soon deflated into a sickening feeling of regret. Emmeline had been nice enough to help him, and he repaid her kindness with hateful words and misguided anger.

Lashing out at someone like Emmeline Vance did not feel good at all. It felt like kicking a puppy in the face.

Sirius did not consider himself a bad person, and knew the guilt he felt was a sign that he should probably apologize to her. Knowing Emmeline, she would accept his apology without question, and he would feel less guilty about getting angry at her. It was a win-win situation, and Sirius wasted no time the next morning getting down to the Great Hall to seek her out.

He only had to search for a few seconds before he noticed her: she was sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor table by herself, eating breakfast while reading a book propped against a juice jug. He made a beeline for her.

"Hey Emmeline."

He saw her pause in the middle of chewing her toast before looking up at him. "Oh. Hi Sirius."

"Mind if I sit down?" She didn't respond, but Sirius took the seat opposite her anyway. He took a pear from a nearby fruit bowl but didn't bite into it.

"What are you reading?" he asked, trying to sound friendly.

"_Hogwarts, A History_," she responded simply. He didn't have to be a mind-reader to know she was still upset about last night.

"Emmeline…" Sirius began, and she looked at him. "I… I wanted to apologize to you about last night. I was upset at Siobhan, and I took it out on you, which wasn't right. I wasn't actually angry at you, and I shouldn't have said those things." He looked down. "Honestly, I'm really sorry."

Emmeline sighed dejectedly and closed her book. "No, _I'm_ sorry. I shouldn't have said those things to set you off in the first place. They were mean and untrue."

Sirius couldn't help but grin wryly. "It's okay. I know I've had more than a few girlfriends."

"I still shouldn't have said it," Emmeline shook her head. "I feel terrible."

"Me too," Sirius admitted. "Can we just forget it ever happened?"

"Sure," Emmeline smiled, and Sirius saw the way her blue eyes sparkled and the way her cheeks colored to indicate she had truly forgiven him. Sirius grinned back, and stuck out his hand for her to shake.

"Friends?"

She laughed before taking his hand. "Friends."

They shook, and both smiled at the other before letting go. A comfortable silence settled between the two as Sirius took a bite of his pear and Emmeline packed _Hogwarts_, _A History _back into her bag.

"So… are you still considering Siobhan after last night?" Emmeline glanced up at Sirius, and he laughed.

"Maybe. I'll probably give it a few days before trying again," he said, and Emmeline giggled.

"That's probably the safe way to go," she said. "But you're persistence is admirable."

"Is 'admirable' the right word?"

They both laughed. "Seriously though," Emmeline insisted. "I'd be flattered if a guy put as much effort to pursue me as you're doing with Siobhan." She took a sip of orange juice, and Sirius shrugged, his smile fading somewhat.

"Yeah, well… when you've got nothing much else to offer a girl, what else is a bloke to do?" Sirius gazed off in the distance, his mind flitting about like a moth near a flame. "I guess I sometimes think I'll never find her," he said without thinking.

"Find who?" Emmeline asked, and Sirius looked at her.

"The one girl who's worth all that effort," he said simply. There was a short silence, and Emmeline looked at him sympathetically.

"That must be difficult," she remarked quietly, and Sirius glanced away. The faces of all the girls he had either dated or considered dating began to swirl around in his mind, taunting him with his personal failings.

"Yeah…"

There was another short silence, and Sirius felt this conversation needed to end. He let out a long breath, and forced a smile.

"Well, I think that's enough about my sordid past," he stood up with a casual grin. "I should really go – James and the others are probably wondering where I've gone."

"Oh, okay," Emmeline still looked mildly concerned, but smiled at him all the same. "Goodbye then. Say hi to Remus for me!"

"Sure thing. Bye Emmeline," Sirius grinned at her before turning and walking away.

~/~

Sirius had reached the entrance hall when he realized his mind was feeling a lot lighter than it did before his talk with Emmeline. Sirius wasn't often one to voice aloud his inner thoughts and feelings, but something about Emmeline made him want to open up – he sort of understood now why Remus had always been such good friends with her. Sirius started to climb the grand staircase, thinking that Emmeline Vance was a kind soul, pure and simple…

"Sirius!"

Sirius turned and looked back down the staircase to notice Isabel LeCarré smiling at him from the first floor landing. She waved, and Sirius silently cursed himself – he realized he had completely forgotten to break up with her last week.

"Oh, hey Izzy," he said casually as she approached. He had also forgotten how tall she was when she stopped in front of him.

"Where have you been, Sirius? I haven't seen you in ages," she pouted. She had long brown curls and full lips, which Sirius guessed was why he was attracted to her in the first place.

"Oh, y'know… been busy," he said vaguely, shrugging his shoulders. Isabel smiled coyly.

"Care to be busier?"

Sirius stared at her.

* * *

**Saturday**

**September 18****th**

**8:23 pm**

**Gryffindor common room**

"Hey Em – what's up with your boyfriend?" Lily asked Emmeline as they set up the wizard's chess board by the fire. "Reggie seems a bit different."

"How do you mean?" Emmeline plopped down in her favorite armchair, ready to play.

"Well, I saw him at lunch today and he was surrounded by like a dozen people," Lily began setting up the chess pieces. "It looked like he was telling a joke or something because everyone was laughing and being really loud. I tried to say hi but he didn't even see me."

"Oh yeah. Apparently he's got an entourage now," Emmeline chuckled, shaking her head. "I saw them with him the other day. It's pretty weird."

Marlene was sitting down on the couch between them, paging through her Potions book. "What's so weird about it? It's his last year at Hogwarts – let him enjoy himself a little."

"He should be focusing on his NEWTS, not his popularity," Emmeline said stoutly. Lily had finished setting up the chess board and the two girls began to play. "Maybe I should talk with him…"

"Talk with who?" James suddenly approached, accompanied by the other Marauders. He grinned at Lily, who determinedly avoided his gaze.

"No one," Marlene glanced up at them. "What are you guys up to?"

"We were going to go down to the library, but I think we'll hang around here for a bit," James plopped down on the couch cushion beside Marlene. "Can I have the next game, Lily?"

"No," Lily said firmly, prodding her pawn forward.

"Well, you stay if you want – I've got Muggle Studies to finish," Remus turned to leave out the portrait hole, quickly followed by Peter. Sirius just casually leaned against the couch with his arms crossed, watching the chess match.

"Don't you lot have homework to do?" he asked idly, pushing his hair away from his eyes.

"We finished over an hour ago," Emmeline moved her knight and captured Lily's rook. "Yes!"

"Such overachievers," James leaned back on the couch. "I haven't even started Slughorn's Potion's essay yet."

Lily looked shocked. "But it's due Monday!"

"So it is," James grinned unconcernedly. "I'll get it done… care to help me?"

"If by 'help me' you mean 'let me copy yours', then no," Lily scowled. "Find someone else to help you, Potter."

"I think Prongs would prefer _you_ to help him," Sirius smirked. "He needs someone to keep busy with."

Marlene and Emmeline hooted with laughter as James threw a nearby couch cushion at his friend. Sirius dodged it, laughing.

"What – like the way you were _keeping busy_ with Isabel LeCarré this morning?" James shot back.

That quieted the laughter.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sirius said coolly, but the color had drained out of his face. Lily, Marlene, and Emmeline were all looking at him.

"Dorcas Meadows saw you two snogging in the Charms corridor after breakfast this morning," James pressed on. "She told everyone."

Sirius didn't say anything – guilt and embarrassment began bubbling up inside his chest. He tried his best to avoid Emmeline's gaze in particular, but her eyes seemed to be burning holes into his skin. He swallowed.

"She's making it up," Sirius picked up the cushion and chucked it back at James. "I guess she and you both need to learn how to keep your mouths shut."

He felt angry and humiliated, and was desperately trying to keep it under control. Not wanting to cause a scene, he turned and walked away, out of the portrait hole toward the library to find Remus and Peter. He just needed to get out of there.

He kept walking along, but Emmeline's piercing blue eyes didn't seem to want to go away.

* * *

**Thank you so much to everyone who followed and favorited this story - you're the best!  
**

**Merry Christmas!**


	5. Chapter 5

**iceandfire 105: **Thank you! Hope you had a nice Christmas – here's the next chapter for you:)

**YourAreMyRevolution: **I agree, Emmeline is pretty naïve, but that's honestly why I love writing her so much. I deliberately tried to make her different from the other sort of insolent, coquettish girls people tend to pair Sirius up with. I wanted to give him a nice girl for a change! Lol and as for Reggie, well you'll have to wait and see:) Enjoy this next chapter!

**Coronae Borealis: **Wow, thank you so much! I'm a total Sirius/Emmeline shipper too:) I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

**Guest: **Yah, no problem! I really wanted to write a Sirius POV chapter, and I'm glad it worked out. As for what's going on with the other characters, well, you'll just have to wait and see:) In the meantime, speculate some more and enjoy this next chapter! Lol

**Valene-Duchannes**: Thank you! Hopefully I'll be able to write longer chapters as the story progresses, but right now I'm just trying to update as quickly as possible. Hope you enjoy this one!

**Sunday**

**September 19****th**

**6:45 pm**

**Gryffindor common room**

* * *

Marlene often couldn't believe the amount of homework Hogwarts professors gave their sixth year students. She figured since she took the OWLS last year (and earned nine in total, thank you very much), she figured the rest of her time at school would be slightly more bearable, as she would now be taking fewer classes. That was certainly not the case, however: never in her entire student career had she more essays to write, more books to read, or more runes to interpret. Her OWL year seemed almost like a joke compared to the classes she was taking now, and even though the semester had barely begun, Marlene couldn't wait for it to be over already.

It was Sunday night, and Marlene had all of her homework spread out on top of a table in the crowded common room. Undeterred by the noisy Gryffindors, Marlene began working diligently on an essay about vampires for Defense Against the Dark Arts, determined to get a perfect grade despite the difficulties she faced as a sixth year NEWT student.

So engrossed was she in her work that she hardly noticed someone approaching her table. It wasn't until he plopped himself down in a nearby armchair and spoke up did she know who it was:

"I feel like crap," Sirius Black stated bluntly, leaning back on the chair.

Marlene barely glanced up from her work. "No offense, but could you feel like crap somewhere else? I'm kind of busy."

Sirius didn't move, and Marlene internally rolled her eyes. He didn't say anything else, so she kept working on her essay; she had written down several good lines about the power of wooden stakes when Sirius finally spoke up again:

"So where's your friend?"

Marlene felt mildly annoyed, and didn't look up when she spoke: "She and Siobhan are in the library. Why?"

Sirius scratched his ear, "No reason…"

There was another short silence, and Marlene was getting even more irritated. She seriously considered yelling at Sirius to leave her alone so she could finish her work in peace when he suddenly leaned towards her, looking earnest:

"Hey, so… you know Emmeline, right?"

Marlene looked up at him, feigning confusion. "Emmeline? Is she the blonde one?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, understanding that was at his expense. "Funny."

Marlene turned back to her essay. "What about her?"

Sirius was silent for a moment, looking uncomfortable. "I… I think she sort of hates me."

"Wouldn't doubt it," Marlene said stoutly. "But why?"

Sirius took a deep breath and began to explain to her the whole situation – about how he had spoken with Emmeline about Siobhan, how he snapped at Emmeline, apologized to her, convinced her to keep helping him with Siobhan, and then hooked up with Isabel immediately after. Marlene finally set aside her essay to listen to his story; when he finished, she let out a long breath.

"Wow," she said. "I see what you mean. That was a real dick move, Sirius…"

"I know," Sirius said, looking dejected. "Believe me, I do. But Emmeline hasn't said anything to me since yesterday, so I assume she must hate me now."

Marlene looked at him for a second before turning back to her homework. "She doesn't hate you."

Sirius frowned. "Has she said something?"

Marlene shook her head. "No, I just know Emmeline. She doesn't hate you – she couldn't."

Sirius stared at Marlene for a second before shifting in his seat. "Er…why?"

Marlene sighed, setting her quill down. "Because that's just the kind of person Emmeline _is_. She doesn't get angry or hateful towards people, despite what they've done." She looked up at Sirius. "She forgives everyone, no matter what."

Sirius still seemed discouraged. "I opened up to her, and she was kind to me – but I feel like I betrayed her kindness." He shook his head, looking agitated. "That shouldn't be okay."

"And it's not! Look, if you'd have done that to _me_, I would have torn you a new one – but not Emmeline. If anything she probably feels bad for you." Marlene stood up and began to gather up her things, deciding to finish her essay in the library. "I'm not saying it makes sense," she added reasonably, shoving her book in her backpack.

Sirius looked skeptical as he watched Marlene packing her things away. "Nobody is _that_ nice," he blurted out, staring at her disbelievingly. Marlene swung her heavy bag over her shoulder.

"Emmeline is," she said simply, then added: "And yes, that probably makes her a naive idiot sometimes. But it's only when arseholes like you take advantage of her when it becomes a real problem."

Sirius didn't say anything – he only looked down at his feet, knowing he had been at fault. Marlene said nothing else as she hoisted up her bag and turned to leave, recognizing Sirius's guilt as what was normal for people who first encountered the unconditional niceness of Emmeline Vance.

* * *

**Mond****ay**

**September 20****th**

**4:01 pm**

**Potions classroom**

"Did you remember to put in the Lethe water?"

"Yes, I did," Siobhan insisted, looking angry. "It's this stupid cauldron – it's been giving me problems all year!"

"Hm… maybe it was the temperature," Emmeline looked at the instructions, then at their potion, which resembled clumpy purple mucus. "Did you heat it up enough?"

Siobhan's face fell. "Oh – we were supposed to heat it?"

Emmeline grimaced. "…Yeah."

It was after Potions class, and the Gryffindor sixth years were all finishing up for the day, talking amongst themselves while packing away their things. Emmeline and Siobhan had been paired up to make Amortentia, a powerful love potion, but over two hours of hard work and complicated instructions had resulted in zero marks for the both of them. Emmeline would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little discouraged.

"It's okay," Emmeline tried to sound reassuring as she watched Siobhan angrily putting away her brass scales. "I'm sure Professor Slughorn will let us try again."

"What's the point?" Siobhan huffed dispiritedly, shoving her books in her backpack. "We're just going to fail all over again! This class is complete rubbish…"

"Emmeline?"

The two girls turned around and noticed Sirius Black standing there. Siobhan immediately straightened up, flipping her long red hair back.

"What do _you _want?" she asked him snootily, putting her hands on her hips. Emmeline noticed she tilted her chin up at an angle to make her features look more attractive.

"I was hoping to have a word with Emmeline," Sirius said to her. Siobhan looked slightly affronted, and Emmeline glanced between the two.

"Um… sure," she said to Sirius after Siobhan didn't say anything. Emmeline followed him out of the classroom, getting only a brief glimpse at the look on Siobhan's face as they walked away.

Gryffindor students were milling around outside the classroom, chatting excitedly since their classes were over and done with for the day. Sirius led Emmeline down the corridor, slightly away from the other students, before stopping and turning to face her once again.

"Look, Emmeline," he said immediately. "About Isabel…"

He hesitated, searching for the right words to properly articulate his regret. Emmeline quickly spoke up, laughing lightly:

"Oh! No, Sirius – you don't have to explain that me."

Sirius stared at her. "What?"

"I know that you like to go out with other girls, it's not that big a deal," she insisted. "If you want to go out with Isabel instead of Siobhan, you can. It's none of my business."

Sirius looked like he'd been hit by a train. "I figured you must've hated me…" he said quietly after a moment, bewildered. Emmeline shook her head.

"Of course not! How could I hate you for doing what you've always done? Like I said, it's none of my business."

Sirius now shook his head. "No, it is. I sort of _made_ it your business, and that's why I wanted to talk to you…" he glanced down at his feet. "I wanted to say that... I'm really sorry." He paused for a second before glancing up to meet her eyes again. "About everything."

Emmeline frowned in confusion. "Everything?"

Sirius nodded, looking uncharacteristically solemn. "Everything."

Emmeline didn't know what to say. A part of her wanted to protest his apology as needless, but the look on his face silenced all her objections. She vividly remembered her talk with Marlene, when she said that Sirius was a manipulative liar who used girls to his own end. Marlene seemed convinced that was all he was doing when he appealed to Emmeline about Siobhan: here, though, it almost looked like Sirius was apologizing for all of that. And it was she, Emmeline, who made him _want_ to apologize. She was surprised at his humbleness.

"I… don't know what to say," she said after a moment. It was the truth, at least.

"You don't have to say anything. In fact, I would understand if you never wanted to speak to me again," he said honestly. "I just hope you know that I don't want to be that sort of person anymore… I want girls to be able to trust me."

Emmeline couldn't help but smile sardonically. "Marlene says I'm too trusting anyways."

"Really?" Sirius grinned slightly.

"Well, why would she lie?" They both laughed, and a comfortable silence soon stretched between them.

"We're okay, Sirius," Emmeline said quietly after a moment, because Sirius looked like he was struggling to express his regret to her once again. He looked at her for a moment before nodding slightly, glancing down.

"Thank you," he said, and the sincerity in his voice made Emmeline smile.

"That's what friends are for."

~/~

Marlene and Lily were watching Sirius and Emmeline talk from a few yards away. They slowly turned to look at each other.

"Did that… really just happen?" Lily asked.

"Yep," Marlene said.

"Emmeline managed to properly humble Sirius Black," Lily shook her head disbelievingly. "How?"

"She has magic neither of us will ever understand," Marlene said sagely, and the two girls grinned wryly at one another.

"That she does."

* * *

**Thank you so much for your support guys! It means a lot:) Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**iceandfire 105**: Thanks! I totally agree:) Here's the next chapter for you!

**Wednesday**

**October 5****th**

**11:53 am**

* * *

Over the course of two weeks, it seemed as if so much had changed. The amount of homework given to the sixth years had mounted even higher, as teachers tried to prepare their students for their soon-to-come NEWT exams. The days, too, began to get shorter and colder, frost beginning to coat the grounds every morning in a chilly layer. The sun would shine weakly behind gray clouds as the students went about their day, breath now rising in puffs before them as they walked along the corridors, eager to find the warmth of the common room fires.

Among all that had changed, Sirius Black and Emmeline Vance had also become sort of friends. Although their friendship did not consist of very much: they would only sometimes smile at each other when passing in the corridors or make small talk while in the common room. They still spent the majority of their time with their respective cliques, so their newfound comradery went by mostly unnoticed.

However, Marlene was highly in favor of Emmeline's friendship with Sirius, as she made a point to tell her during Herbology class one day. Her approval came as a surprise to Emmeline, considering how much Marlene was initially against him speaking to her; but Marlene explained how she was only trying to protect Emmeline.

"Sirius could have very easily pulled a 'Siobhan' and used your kind nature to his advantage," Marlene said knowledgeably as she and Emmeline transplanted Venomous Tentaculas at the same trestle table. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times – you're too nice for your own good."

Emmeline threw a handful of dragon dung at Marlene, who jumped and squealed in disgust as it splattered on her cloak. "'Too nice', you say?" Emmeline smirked triumphantly as Marlene brushed the gunk off of her.

"Point taken," Marlene flicked the clumps of dragon dung at Emmeline, and the two laughed.

"Five minutes, everyone!" Professor Sprout called to the class at large. "Clean up after you've finished repotting your Tentaculas. And don't forget to hand in your essays on gillyweed before you leave!"

"Sirius and I are barely friends," Emmeline pointed out to Marlene as they put away their things. "He basically just knows I exist now."

"Please. After his heartfelt apology to you outside the Potions classroom?" Marlene rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Your souls are practically joined together as _one_."

Emmeline went red. True, she and Sirius had connected after their conversation two weeks ago, but Sirius hadn't mentioned their talk at all since it happened. Emmeline suspected he was a bit embarrassed about it, and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable, but at the same time she couldn't deny how happy his apology had made her.

Marlene and Emmeline finished cleaning up and had handed in their essays before walking up the sloping grounds toward the castle with the other Gryffindors. The Marauders were grouped together several yards away: Sirius and James had stolen Peter's bag and were playing keep away with it, levitating it between each other with their wands while Peter made desperate lunges for it. Emmeline could tell Peter was trying not to show how upset he was by laughing along with his friends, while Remus simply stayed a few paces away from the commotion.

"Why are they doing that?" Marlene frowned, watching Sirius and James too. "What's the point?"

"It's just in good fun," Emmeline said, although she frowned as well. A part of her wanted to go over to them and help Peter out.

"Oi!" Sirius had noticed Marlene and Emmeline watching them. He waved. "You two want to be next?"

"Not particularly!" Emmeline called back. Marlene snickered.

"Where's your sense of fun?" Sirius flicked his wand and Peter's bag flew up in the air – its contents spilled out and flew in every direction. Peter gave a horrified yelp as James roared with laughter. Emmeline quickly rushed toward them, wand in hand.

"Emmeline!"

The books and parchment that flew from Peter's bag suddenly froze in midair: Emmeline had shot a Freezing spell at them. She waved her wand in a large sweeping motion, causing all of the bag's contents to soar in an arc before landing delicately down on the frozen ground in a neat pile. Students nearby had stopped to watch – some of them, including Lily Evans, whooped and cheered at Emmeline's interference, while other's gasped at her audacity. Sirius stood dumbstruck.

"Nice one, Em," Marlene laughed, clutching her best friend's arm. "That was awesome!"

Peter silently scrambled to collect his things, not even saying a simple 'thank you' to Emmeline. Sirius watched Peter, his wand at his side while his face stayed unreadable. Emmeline guessed he was angry, and she watched him warily.

Sirius's eyes moved up to meet hers. After a long moment, where they simply looked at each other, the side of his mouth turned up slightly in an appreciative smirk.

Emmeline smiled back, feeling immensely relieved. Sirius's face soon broke out into a full grin, and he began to laugh, shaking his head. The other students began to crowd around Emmeline, talking loudly while chivying her towards the castle:

"That was great, Emmeline," Frank Longbottom laughed.

"Yeah, that was way cool!" Mary MacDonald giggled.

"I've never seen anyone do that to Sirius," Lily sounded awed. "That was really brave, Em!"

Emmeline didn't say anything as she was swept along by the group of students; she glanced over her shoulder and saw Sirius talking with Peter and Remus in the distance. Sirius looked over and caught Emmeline's eyes again, and she quickly looked away, smiling slightly to herself.

* * *

The group of students arrived together in the Great Hall for lunch and soon dispersed, chatting amongst themselves. Marlene, Emmeline, and Lily all settled together at the Gryffindor table, still discussing what had happened.

"You're lucky a teacher didn't spot you," Lily remarked as she grabbed a bowl of salad. "You could have gotten in a lot of trouble."

"Sirius and James were at fault just as much as I," Emmeline said, choosing a crumpet but not eating it.

"Try _more_ at fault," Marlene scoffed. "You were only trying to help! Sirius and James should have gotten a detention for that stunt."

"Our ears are burning," James and the rest of the Marauders approached the girls, sitting down nearby. Lily and Marlene rolled their eyes.

"Miss Freeze, if I may?" Sirius smiled at Emmeline, taking the seat across from her. "Want to come to Charms with me and interfere with some of my spells?"

Emmeline smiled sarcastically back, understanding he just wanted to joke around with her. "We're in the same class. So you can count on it."

Marlene and Lily laughed, and Sirius continued to grin at Emmeline. Remus took the seat beside her.

"Leave her alone, Padfoot. She was just trying to do the right thing."

"I didn't see _you_ doing anything, Remus," Lily back shot at him.

"Yeah, Moony. How will Padfoot and I ever learn?" James elbowed Remus from his other side.

"Emmeline'll keep us in line, won't you, Em?" Sirius was still grinning at Emmeline, who was beginning to wonder why his gaze wouldn't waver from hers.

"If it's got to be done," she smiled anyway, and Sirius chuckled.

"You guys are weird," Marlene stood up, turning toward the Hufflepuff table. "I'm going to eat with Amal. See you later," she was about to leave, but suddenly stopped, turning back toward Emmeline. "Oh! Before I forget – Amal was wondering if you and Reggie wanted to come with us to Hogsmeade on Halloween."

Emmeline frowned in confusion, "But that's ages away."

Marlene shrugged. "I know. But he wants to plan this whole double-date thing with you guys… I dunno, it could be pretty fun."

"I guess. I'm seeing Reggie tonight, so I can ask him then. He'll probably be fine with it." Emmeline was aware the others were listening to her conversation.

"Great. Let me know," Marlene grinned before turning around and walking away. Emmeline turned back to her plate.

"So how is Reggie?" Remus asked her, spooning mashed potatoes onto his own plate. Sirius turned his head.

"Pretty good. He's enjoying seventh year," Emmeline smiled. "And it helps that Ravenclaw just beat Slytherin in their match last week…"

James's eyes widened as he stared at Emmeline. "Wait – you're dating Reggie Cartwell? The Ravenclaw Chaser?" Emmeline nodded, and James gaped at her. "No way! He was on _fire_ in that last match! What did he make, like ninety points?"

"A hundred, counting that penalty shot," Emmeline grinned proudly. "It was his personal best."

James shook his head. "Man, I don't get why he didn't become Captain this year. Smitts is seriously awful – I bet Flitwick is kicking himself for choosing her."

"She's been on the team longer than anyone," Remus said reasonably. "Maybe Flitwick was going by seniority when he picked her."

"Well maybe if he went by _talent_, Ravenclaw would win a bit more," James said, and suddenly grinned. "It worked for Gryffindor when I became Quidditch Captain, after all."

Lily rolled her eyes, but the boys didn't seem to notice as they continued to discuss their favorite sport. Emmeline decided not to participate, choosing instead to chat with Lily about schoolwork and other things. After a few minutes, Emmeline chanced a glance over at Sirius: he had finally averted his eyes from her, and looked either at his friends or at his plate of food. He had glanced at Emmeline for a split second once, but quickly looked away upon noticing her gaze.

When it was time to get to class, all of them stood up to leave together. James was trying to walk beside a disgruntled Lily, who was desperately trying to cling to Emmeline's arm. Remus and Peter were walking silently together, while Sirius strode ahead of the group alone. Emmeline watched him, feeling something deep in her chest that may have been guilt.

They had reached the Charms classroom, where Lily had finally shaken off James. She dragged Emmeline to sit on the other side of the classroom, whispering fiercely all the while:

"Honestly, the _nerve_ of him… following me around like a bloody lapdog… some guys just can't take a hint…"

Emmeline hardly listened – her mind was still dwelling on Sirius. The part of her that knew why he had been staring at her tried desperately to dismiss it as a trick of the mind. Yet that feeling of guilt still remained.

Emmeline sat down with Lily at their desk, thinking that friendship with Sirius Black, as happy as it made her, would probably be different than anything else she had ever experienced before.

* * *

**Hey guys! Sorry I took a few extra days to update - New year's is always a super busy time for me. But here's the new chapter for you! I really hope you like it, and if you do, please leave a review :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**YouAreMyRevolution: **Thank you! Yeah it's pretty busy, but that's the way it usually goes. Anyway, here's the next chapter for you!

**Thursday**

**October 14****th**

**7:45 pm**

**Gryffindor common room**

* * *

"Hey Moony, do you know the origins of the Furnunculus Curse?" James stared at his unfinished Charms essay, sucking on the tip of his quill thoughtfully.

"Why don't you just check the text?" Remus glanced over the top of the book he was reading. "That's what it's there for."

"Well, why would I do that when your brain is so convenient?" James smirked, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"Guys, I really don't get this," Peter said anxiously, leafing through his notes. He said this almost every school night, and the other boys had all but given up on helping him out with homework.

"Relax, Wormtail," Sirius leaned back on his chair, deciding he was done for the night. He waved his wand lazily at his inkwell, and globules of ink came out of it, shooting up and suspending in midair. "What we do right now isn't going to matter in the real wizarding world. The teachers all just want to scare us with homework right now for no reason."

"It's not for no reason," Remus insisted, closing his book with a frown at Sirius. "NEWTS are very important! How well we do right now is going to affect our future careers!"

"Well, what if my future career involves being a world-famous Quidditch player?" James grinned, miming snatching the Snitch from midair. Peter laughed delightedly.

"Then by all means, go ahead and fail all your classes," Remus rolled his eyes, reopening his book and disappearing behind it once again.

The four boys fell into silence after that: James had reluctantly turned to focus on his essay, and Peter continued to struggle with his jumbled notes. Sirius, who was tired of doing homework, continued to idly wave his wand at the flying ink, creating cool shapes and patterns in the air. He looked around the common room as he did, noticing his fellow classmates working on their own homework. Bradley Trent and Frank Longbottom were comparing notes at a table by the fireplace, Dorcas Meadows and Lily were practicing Conjuring Charms together near the portrait hole, and Emmeline was sitting alone near a window, writing an essay while muttering quietly to herself.

Sirius's eyes lingered on Emmeline. He saw how she did her work diligently, scribbling down words quickly and without interruption. She absentmindedly twirled a piece of light blonde hair in her finger as she worked, her lips moving to words Sirius couldn't hear. At first he thought she was muttering to herself because she was concentrating so hard, but after looking at her for a minute, he realized from the way her eyebrows were raised and the way her lips elongated certain words, that she was actually singing quietly to herself.

_Wait… singing?_

Curious, Sirius stood up, the ink he was playing with immediately dropping down and disappearing back into the bottle.

"Where are you going?" Remus glanced up at Sirius, frowning slightly.

Sirius shrugged. "Just going to find something to help me concentrate." He turned and strode away, waving his arm idly behind him. "Don't wait up."

Sirius pretended to walk toward the boys dormitory, but veered slightly to the right, towards where he saw Emmeline working by herself. When he was several feet away from her, and within earshot of her singing, he stopped and listened:

_…Hey, I don't know,  
__Oh, tell me where to begin  
__'Cause I never ever felt so much…_

Her voice was a sweet and tinkling soprano, and she was hitting notes with a slow and beautiful musical sound. Sirius was instantly intrigued, and he couldn't bring himself to interrupt her at first so he could keep listening to her lovely voice:

…_It's got what it takes  
So tell me why can't this be love?  
Straight from my heart  
Oh, tell me why can't this be love?_

Emmeline sang softly down to her homework, ending the last line with a light vibrato. Her voice was clearly well-practiced in music, Sirius could definitely tell.

"I know you're there."

Emmeline finally glanced up from her essay, looking at Sirius with a glint in her eye. Sirius knew her well enough to know she wasn't upset by his interruption, however, and he grinned at her easily.

"By all means, don't stop. Not for my sake at least," Sirius moved over and sat down in the empty chair beside her. "That was quite good."

"Thanks," Emmeline smiled widely at him. "That song is one of my favorites. It's by this Muggle musical group… Van Halen, I think they're called."

"'Van Halen'? Sounds girly," Sirius made a face, and Emmeline giggled. There was a short pause, and Sirius considered her for a moment. "So do you always sing to your homework, or is tonight just a special occasion?"

Emmeline blushed. "Usually when I'm doing homework I'll start humming to myself. It's a bad habit, I know, but sometimes I can't help it. I'll have a song stuck in my head and I can't get it out until I sing it aloud."

"Makes sense," Sirius smirked, and Emmeline rolled her eyes, grinning.

"It does, actually! But it also helps me concentrate," she indicated her unfinished essay. "So homework nights are when I usually sing…" She smiled to herself, a look of happiness spreading across her face. "I really love music. I want to work with it in some way after Hogwarts."

Sirius looked at her, at the happy smile that lit up her face, and knew she was someone who had a real passion, like James had with Quidditch. Sirius couldn't help but feel a little envious: why couldn't he feel the same passion about his own future?

"Really?" Sirius smiled lightly at her. "What exactly did you want to do with music?"

"Oh, I don't know," Emmeline shrugged, still smiling. "Maybe teach it to children or something. I haven't decided yet – but I s'pose I'm practicing now with my homework for whatever it'll be."

Sirius grinned at her. "Maybe _I_ should try singing a romantic ballad to my Potions book too. Couldn't go amiss, could it?"

Emmeline laughed, her sweet voice ringing like one of the musical notes she had just sung. Sirius smiled, enjoying the sound.

"I guess you could always ask it out on a date afterwards," she giggled out after a few seconds, wiping away tears of mirth.

It was Sirius's turn to laugh now. "Dating a book? That's _way_ too much commitment. Do you know how high-maintenance they are?"

That made Emmeline laugh all over again, and the two spent several happy moments just joking around and cracking each other up. It was a good feeling, Sirius realized, just sitting here and hanging out with Emmeline. Their homework was completely forgotten.

"…So besides your textbook, how have things been going with you?" Emmeline asked, her smile still in place. "You know, with Isabel?"

Sirius hesitated a moment. He had ended things with Isabel a week ago, and had actually begun seeing some Gryffindor fifth-year girl named Alex. "Erm… Isabel and I broke up, actually."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that." She actually looked it, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Sirius brushed her concern aside. "It happens. And it was mutual, so it was no big deal."

Emmeline pressed her lips together, and nodded. She still looked concerned, and Sirius sort of wanted to change the subject.

"So… how are you and your boyfriend?" he asked, because he couldn't really think of anything else to say.

Emmeline blinked. "Oh, Reggie? We're pretty good," she nodded, then smiled slightly. "After two years, we can pretty much finish each other's sentences."

This caught Sirius's attention: "_Two years_? You've been with this one bloke for two whole years?"

Emmeline giggled at his astonishment. "Two years and three months, actually."

Sirius shook his head. "Bloody hell. I couldn't imagine being with one person for that long!"

He spoke without thinking, and a moment later almost wished he hadn't said anything. Emmeline smiled warmly, however, and shook her head.

"Well, it's not been easy, that's for sure. We've had our ups and downs, but in the end it's all worth it – when you really love someone, you're willing to make the relationship work. For their sake, at least."

There was a short silence after Emmeline spoke. Sirius thought about what she just said, and felt that horribly familiar clench in the pit of his stomach – that feeling of total and complete failure. He looked down.

"Wish I knew what you were talking about," he smiled humorlessly. "My relationships couldn't hold a candle to yours."

Emmeline suddenly looked horrified. "Oh Sirius, I'm so sorry! I – I wasn't trying to make you feel bad or anything…!" She reached over and placed her hand on his.

"Oh, no it's okay," Sirius shook his head, smiling at her. He was aware of how warm her hand was on his. "Honestly, it's not a big deal."

"It is, though," Emmeline said, still frowning. She removed her hand, and Sirius's skin felt a little cold. "'If you're that concerned about it. You've really never been in love?"

Sirius's smiled dropped and he gazed down at his feet. He spoke quietly after a moment: "No, I s'pose I haven't."

There was another silence, and Sirius really wished Emmeline wasn't looking so desperately sorry for him.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Sirius," she said after a moment, and he looked up at her. "Lots of people our age never fall in love."

"Says the girl who's basically an expert in it," Sirius said wryly.

"It's true though!" Emmeline insisted. "I'm lucky to have been able to find Reggie – lots of people our age don't get to experience what love truly is until they're much older."

Sirius chewed on his bottom lip, thinking. "I dunno, I guess… I always thought love would be easy," he shrugged. "When I found the right girl, at least."

"When it's love, it is easy," Emmeline said wisely. "Love comes naturally to all of us. Pursuing the actual relationship is what's difficult."

Sirius looked at Emmeline, and she smiled lightly at him. Sirius felt the knot in his stomach lessen slightly.

"Guess I know what to avoid then," Sirius grinned, only half-joking. Emmeline smiled sadly at him, but said nothing. Sirius looked back at her, but soon had to look away.

"Like I said before," Emmeline spoke up eventually. Sirius moved his eyes up to hers again, and saw she gazed back at him with those big blue eyes. "When it's true love, you're willing to work through the difficult parts."

Sirius stared at her for a second before glancing away. "Yeah…"

_Love comes naturally to all of us_. He thought of Emmeline's words, and even hours later, they gave him a faint feeling of hope. Maybe she had a point – maybe love was something he could experience one day. Maybe he would soon know what it felt like.

Maybe, just maybe, true love was closer than he thought.

* * *

**Thursday**

**October 14****th**

**8:00 pm**

**Ravenclaw common room**

"…And the merman says to her 'Your _fins_? But I thought it was your _scales_!"

The large group of Ravenclaw seventh-years who were listening all burst out laughing at Reggie's joke, throwing their heads back and slapping their legs.

"Oh my God – that was _hilarious_!" Justin Grenowitz gripped his stomach, he was laughing so hard.

A blonde girl sitting next to Reggie named Samantha Pedderton clutched onto his arm, giggling madly. "You should _totally_ be a comedian, Reg!"

Reggie grinned widely, feeling flushed with happiness. Never in his life did he think he would be this popular – not only had he had a massive growth spurt over the summer, but he had won the big Quidditch match for Ravenclaw a few weeks ago, so more and more people began to take notice of him. Soon he had accumulated a large group of friends who followed him around, let him copy their homework, laughed at his jokes, and pretty much thought he was coolest guy at Hogwarts.

"Hey, Reg – we were all going to crash Sebastian Nott's Halloween party tomorrow night. It's supposed to be 'Slytherins only'. You in?" Ed Lassiter held out his hand for Reggie to slap while the others around them chorused their approval.

"Yeah, c'mon Reg – it'll be hilarious!"

"You should totally come!"

"Aw, sounds cool guys," Reggie grinned apologetically, slapping Ed's extended hand. "But my girlfriend and I are doing something."

A collective groan filled the air, and Ed looked heartily disappointed.

"You're blowing us off for Emmeline Vance? Seriously?" he shook his head at Reggie. "She never lets you have any fun!"

"Yeah!" a few others piped up indignantly.

Reggie grinned at all of them, giving a little awkward laugh. "She's my girlfriend," he shrugged, as if asking what else he was supposed to do.

"Just between us, mate," Ed moved over and sat on the couch beside Reggie, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "You're holding yourself back with Emmeline! Seriously: you could have _any_ girl you want – why only go with her?" Ed gave his shoulders a shake. "You're Reggie Cartwell, Quidditch superstar!"

The others, who were listening, all whooped and cheered at the word Quidditch. Reggie stared at Ed for a moment before glancing away, thinking about what he said.

"Any girl I want…" he muttered, but only to himself.

* * *

**Ooh, intrigue! Hope you liked this chapter:) Please leave a review if you did!**


	8. Chapter 8

**iceandfire 105: **Thanks for your review… as always:) Lol here's the next chapter for you!

**Sunday**

**October 31****st**

**10:05 am**

**Entrance Hall**

* * *

"I'm actually kind of excited for today," Emmeline smiled widely, bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation. She, Reggie, Marlene, and Amal stood in line together, waiting to be cleared to head out to Hogsmeade for their double date.

"That's the spirit, Em!" Amal laughed, holding hands with Marlene. "Where do you think we should go first?"

"I dunno," Emmeline looked thoughtful for a moment before turning to Reggie. "What do you think?"

Reggie didn't answer at first – he was gazing out the front doors toward the grounds. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets, and Emmeline frowned at him.

"Reggie?"

"Hm?" He finally looked around at her, blinking. "Oh, sorry… I don't care. You guys can pick."

"Well, I need to stop by Honeydukes," Marlene said immediately. "And then after that we can stop by the Three Broomsticks for something to drink. And Amal, I know you said you wanted to see that haunted shack up on the hill later…"

"It's not _actually_ haunted," Amal rolled his eyes. "That's just what my friend Mark said 'cause he heard shrieking from it a couple years ago. But I still think it would be interesting to check out."

"Definitely," Emmeline smiled, trying to ignore how hurt she was by Reggie's cold shoulder. They had finally reached the front of the line, and after being marked off the teacher's list, they were free to walk across the grounds together towards Hogsmeade. Amal breathed in the fresh October air and grinned widely.

"First Hogsmeade trip of the year. Always a good one," he sighed happily, swinging his and Marlene's hands between them. Marlene giggled.

"Nice not doing homework for a change," Emmeline noted, and the others chorused their agreement.

"You can say that again," Amal said emphatically. "Do you know how many essays I've had to write this month alone? Twelve, at least!"

"It's been so hard," Marlene shook her head. "I can't believe how much homework the professors are giving us!"

"Just wait till seventh year," Reggie said grimly. "It gets worse."

"I'd like to believe that," Amal said with a derisive smile. Reggie's eyes flashed.

"Oh yeah? Try writing five essays a _week_. And memorizing ancient runes, and perfecting nonverbal incantations, and reading advanced spellbooks, and getting constantly reminded about our impending NEWTS, _and_ balancing all of that with Quidditch practice five nights a week…!"

His voice had risen angrily when he spoke, and his hands balled into fists. The others stared at him, and after a short silence Amal gave a nervous chuckle.

"Sorry, mate," he said. "Don't worry, I believe you."

Emmeline took Reggie's hand in her own, and luckily that seemed to calm him down a bit. His shoulders relaxed and his frown disappeared, but his face still looked a bit troubled. He was squeezing Emmeline's hand rather tightly as they finally walked onto High Street.

Marlene and Amal walked slightly ahead of the other two, looking around and pointing at all the different buildings, chatting happily. Emmeline and Reggie were mostly silent as they walked together.

"I'm sorry," Reggie said suddenly, and Emmeline looked up at him. He was gazing down at his feet while his dark hair fell over his eyes. "I don't know why I snapped at you guys."

"It's okay," Emmeline squeezed his hand, smiling up at him understandingly. "If you feel like you're under too much stress, you can always come and talk to me about it. You know that, right?"

Reggie didn't answer. The expression on his face was of something Emmeline couldn't place, and after a moment he slipped his hand out of hers, shoving it back into his pocket.

"C'mon," he mumbled finally, and without looking at her, set off after Marlene and Amal. Emmeline watched him walk away, feeling sad and a little rejected. This was not the first time Reggie had acted this way toward her, and it seemed to have happened more and more within the past couple weeks. Emmeline was afraid she was losing him, but tried desperately not to let those dark thoughts into her mind.

_We'll get through this_, she found herself thinking. _We always do_.

She found herself almost hoping it.

* * *

**Sunday**

**October 31****st**

**11:34 am**

**The Three Broomsticks**

"Ace of spades – we win again!"

The group of students standing around all burst into applause, cheering wildly as Sirius and James gathered their winnings from across the scrubbed wooden table: a large pile of Sickles and Galleons along with several rare Wizard cards. Kurt Avery and Geoffrey Goyle, whom Sirius and James had just beaten at a high-stakes game of Exploding Snap, were looking rather mutinous. Goyle cracked his knuckles threateningly.

"You cheated," Avery snarled at Sirius, who grinned coolly back. "No one is that lucky."

"Apparently we are," Sirius retorted, flipping a Sickle with his fingers and catching it. Several people laughed.

"Or you're just really unlucky," James said, and Sirius guffawed.

Avery got to his feet, looking about ready to kill. He leaned forward, pressing his hands down on the table while glaring at the other two. "You cheated, and we're going to prove it. We're going to get our money back if it's the last thing we do!"

"We're so scared," Sirius rolled his eyes as Avery and Goyle turned and stormed off. Sirius looked over at James. "Care for another drink, mate?"

"I think we can manage another butterbeer," James smirked, jangling the money bag that contained their winnings. Sirius grinned, and the two of them moved over to the bar to get refills on their drinks.

At that moment, the door to the Three Broomsticks opened, and Sirius looked around: Emmeline had walked in along with Marlene, Reggie, and Amal. Emmeline said something to the other three before moving over towards the bar, supposedly to get their drinks. Sirius smiled and waved at her, and she waved back, moving over to them at the bar.

"Hey guys," she said as she approached. "What's up?"

"Just winning a ton of gold off some dumb Slytherins. You?" James shook the money bag again, grinning, and Emmeline rolled her eyes.

"That gold wouldn't happen to be Avery's and Goyle's, would it?" she asked. "We passed them at the door, and they didn't look too happy."

_Neither do you_, Sirius wanted to say, but refrained himself. Although he couldn't help but notice Emmeline wasn't acting her usual happy, smiling self – the sparkle in her eyes was gone, and her demeanor was a bit more sullen and reserved. Sirius wondered if something was wrong.

"Whatever, not our problem," James shrugged cockily. "They shouldn't be such sore losers. I'm going to go find Moony and Wormtail," he said suddenly. "Tell 'em what we won. See you guys later."

James walked off. Emmeline looked at Sirius.

"He's going to look for Lily," Sirius clarified, and Emmeline nodded.

"Yeah, I figured as much."

The two of them descended into a slightly awkward silence. Sirius really wanted to ask her the question that was pressing on his mind. "So… how are you doing?"

Emmeline pressed her lips together before shrugging her shoulders. "Alright, I s'pose. Today's just been a bit different from what I was expecting."

Sirius frowned as Emmeline glanced over at her friends. Sirius looked over too, and noticed that Marlene and Amal were sitting together at a table near a window while Reggie had broken away from the group: he was standing around and chatting happily with a bunch of his seventh-year Ravenclaw friends who happened to be there. Sirius saw that Emmeline looked a bit sad as her eyes landed on Reggie.

"Hey, it's okay," Sirius tried to sound cajoling. He really didn't like seeing Emmeline like this – it wasn't like her at all. "James and I can buy your guys' drinks for you if you want. Our treat."

This earned a smile from Emmeline, and she even managed a small giggle as she glanced back at Sirius. "That's very kind of you, Sirius. But I don't think drinks bought with gambled money will fix anyth – "

She stopped speaking mid-sentence. Her smile dropped, and her eyes widened as she noticed something coming right behind Sirius.

"Sirius, look!" she whispered urgently.

Sirius whipped around, and his stomach dropped – Avery and Goyle had walked back into the Three Broomsticks, accompanied by half a dozen other Slytherin cronies. They were all angrily gazing around the bar, clearly searching for James and Sirius.

"Uh-oh," Sirius turned back to Emmeline, quickly grabbing her hand. "C'mon – run!"

"What?!" Emmeline yelped, but Sirius had already ducked down and began pulling her toward the back of the bar, toward the door that led to the back alley. Emmeline ducked down too, although she wasn't exactly sure why.

Sirius grasped the back-door handle before glancing over his shoulder. "Through here. Hurry!"

"Wait, what? Why am _I_ running away from them – ?" Emmeline began heatedly, but Sirius silenced her by pushing her through the door first. He hurried after her and slammed the door behind them.

"C'mon," he urged, turning and grabbing her hand again, pulling her down the alley toward High Street. Emmeline didn't know what else to do but be dragged along, glancing nervously around to ensure the Slytherins weren't following. Just as she looked, however, she saw the back door banging open, and Avery and his gang flooding the alley behind the Three Broomsticks.

"Over there!" one of them pointed at her and Sirius.

"Hurry!" Emmeline yelled, and the two of them bolted down the road, toward the far end of town. Sirius urged them to the left, and they both veered toward a small road Emmeline had never been before. It wended its way through a small copse of trees, going uphill at a slight incline. Sirius and Emmeline were out of breath by the time they reached the crest of the hill. They both stopped, panting heavily.

"Did they follow us?" Emmeline asked when she finally caught her breath. Sirius was hunched over, still breathing heavily, but smiling all the same.

"Don't think so," he finally straightened up, and flashed her a cocky grin. "So how does feel – running away from danger with a wanted criminal?"

Emmeline shot him a look that was half-annoyed, half-amused. "Very funny. I had no choice but to come along! Not to mention they were going to kill you..."

"Eh, we could have taken them, easy," Sirius shrugged nonchalantly, "But I knew they wouldn't think to look over here – so I saw an opportunity. And I thought you could benefit from it," he added, smirking at her.

Emmeline didn't answer: she was looking down the road they had just run, and finally noticed the small shack sitting alone at the bottom of the hill. It looked pretty downtrodden and sad, but Emmeline had just figured what it was. Sirius followed her gaze, and his smile faded.

"Have you ever been here before?" he asked her, suddenly more serious. The two walked down to the fence and stopped.

"I've heard rumors... it's the Shrieking Shack, isn't it?" Emmeline said, gazing up at it. The shutter on one of the windows hung at an angle, and several of the tiles on the roof were missing.

"Yeah…" Sirius said, and hesitated, glancing up at it. "So... do you believe it's really haunted?"

Emmeline gazed at the shack thoughtfully. "No." she said after a moment.

Sirius frowned at her, surprised by her answer. "Really?"

Emmeline nodded, still gazing at the shack. "Yeah, I mean… I know a lot of people think this place is scary and it should be avoided, but…" she shrugged. "I dunno, up close, it doesn't look very frightening. It just looks a bit… sad."

She glanced over at Sirius, and was surprised to see that he was smiling at her. He suddenly reached out and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his side. Emmeline was even more surprised by this, and couldn't say anything at first.

"You're alright, Vance," Sirius said after a moment, squeezing her shoulders affectionately. He looked down at her, and she looked up at him. Her heart seemed to be caught in her throat, thumping fretfully as she gazed into his eyes.

"Thanks," she smiled gently at him. He grinned back, and her heart seemed to beat with something beyond just friendly companionship.

Perhaps it was just the bad day she had been having, or even the thrilling chase that had just occurred, but Emmeline managed to forget all about her friends and boyfriend back at the Three Broomsticks, if only for a few moments. And for the first time in her life, Emmeline began to really understand why all the ladies of Hogwarts were so taken by Sirius Black.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed this one! I really appreciate reviews, so if you could leave one it would very much make my day:)**

**Thanks**!


	9. Chapter 9

**iceandfire 105: **You might just be right about that;) Thank you again for the review – here's the next chapter!

**Tuesday**

**November 9****th**

**2:33 pm**

**Library**

* * *

Emmeline didn't know what to do.

This sort of confusion wasn't something she was used to experiencing. What she felt, she realized, was almost completely foreign to her, and she had no idea how to act now because of it. She was vividly reminded of back when she and Reggie had first met: it was before the start of term of her fourth year, and the Hogwarts Express was once again short for space. Emmeline and her friends were forced to share a compartment with some fifth-year Ravenclaw boys, among them Reggie Cartwell. Reggie had smiled at Emmeline in such a way that had made her heart flutter, and the two had spent most of the journey talking only with each other. Emmeline knew right away that Reggie was different from any other guy she had ever met, and her emotions were in a state of chaos and confusion all day. When they had finally reached Hogsmeade station, and they were waiting for the carriages to pull up, Reggie had turned to Emmeline and asked her nervously if maybe she wanted to hang out with him again. Emmeline could hardly believe he wanted to spend more time with her, and she accepted his offer, blushing furiously, but extremely hopeful at the same time.

Emmeline found herself once again feeling that same heart-fluttering, tumultuous, head-reeling infatuation – but it wasn't for Reggie this time. Now that feeling came only when she thought about Sirius.

This embarrassing realization came suddenly and without warning, when she and Sirius were standing together outside the Shrieking Shack: Sirius was being nice to her, when she was in need of a little kindness, and her feelings began to develop rapidly because of that. The two eventually walked back toward High Street together, talking in a friendly way, but Emmeline could hardly look Sirius in the eye, her feelings were in such turmoil. Sirius was supposed to be her friend, like Remus and Amal were, while Reggie was supposed to be her boyfriend, whom she loved and cherished. There was no room for her to be having these feelings – as soon as she realized them, she tried to quell them. She rationalized that she had been having a bad day, what with her argument with Reggie, and that was why she had experienced misplaced affection toward Sirius. Surely these feelings would go away soon.

One week later, however, and Emmeline still found herself thinking about Sirius.

She couldn't help it: she would dwell on things about him she had always known but had never really thought about. Like the way he smiled when he was excited about something, or the way he pushed his hair away from his eyes. Or even the way he looked at Emmeline when he was talking to her…

"Hello, Emmeline? I'm talking to you!"

Sirius waved his hand in front of Emmeline's face, and she jumped, blushing slightly.

"Sorry," she said, shifting awkwardly in her seat. "My mind was on something else."

Sirius laughed, leaning back in his own chair. "That's okay. It's a free period, you can think about whatever you want!"

Emmeline smiled. It was true, their last class of the day, Care of Magical Creatures, was canceled due to the massive blizzard blowing around outside. The sixth year students were all herded into the library to work on homework, but what was supposed to be a quiet study session ended up being a rather rowdy group of teenagers talking and joking around excitedly. Madame Pince, after about fifteen minutes, gave up trying to restore order and left the library, looking like she was about to have a heart attack.

Sirius was in a great mood, however, and he lounged around at a table with Emmeline. Marlene and Remus, who were also in Care of Magical Creatures, were currently sitting in the corner trying fruitlessly to get their homework done, and Emmeline had briefly considered joining them. But Sirius seemed happy enough to just sit and hang out with Emmeline, which (she was embarrassed to admit) she would much rather do than schoolwork.

"Man, I needed this," Sirius stretched his arms luxuriously, kicking back and setting his feet up on the table. "I can't remember the last time we got a break like this!"

"It's only for a few hours," Emmeline said despondently, turning her quill around in her fingers. "We still have homework to do after dinner."

"You spoil everything," Sirius smiled lightly. "I say we should enjoy life's little moments as they come."

Emmeline smiled too. "Sound advice from the guy who got detention last week for sticking dung bombs in Slughorn's briefcase after Potions class."

"Allegedly," Sirius corrected, bringing his feet off down the table. "And if I did do it, it was only because he assigned us that second essay on _Mimbulus Mimbletonia_."

"He assigned it to _you_," Emmeline rolled her eyes. "The rest of us finished it the first time."

Sirius laughed, and Emmeline couldn't help but grin too. Her heart began to beat a little faster.

"Oh, you used to be so nice, Em," Sirius shook his head, smiling at her. "What happened to you?"

Emmeline playfully tossed a crumpled piece of parchment at him. "I guess because I hang out with people like you," she laughed.

Sirius swatted the parchment away, but his smile had faded, and Emmeline, who was concerned that she had said something wrong, went silent. Luckily, at that moment, someone walked up.

"Hey Emmy," Siobhan said, moving up to stand near Emmeline. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Just talking," Emmeline glanced over at Sirius, who smiled at her.

"What, with _him_?" Siobhan glanced at Sirius too, her lip curling disdainfully.

"Yeah, Em – what is wrong with you?" Sirius snapped at Emmeline, and she laughed

Siobhan narrowed her eyes at Sirius before turning to Emmeline. "C'mon Emmy, I need to talk to you," she tugged at her sleeve. "_Alone_." Siobhan glared over at Sirius.

Sirius nodded sagely, kicking back in his chair again. "Girl problems, eh? Don't let me keep you."

Siobhan dragged Emmeline away before she could respond. She walked her past several shelves and clumps of students before finding a secluded area far away from everyone in the Restricted Section. Siobhan finally turned around to face Emmeline: she was looking rather serious, and Emmeline wondered what was wrong.

"Look, Emmy – I'm your friend," Siobhan placed perfectly manicured hand over her heart. "And as your friend I feel obligated to tell you who I think you should and shouldn't be friends with."

Emmeline frowned, slightly affronted by that faulty logic. "Er… okay?"

"I want to be completely honest with you," she said sweetly, placing her hand on Emmeline's shoulder. "So I'm telling you now… I don't think you should hang out with Sirius Black anymore."

Emmeline blinked. She wasn't expecting her to say that, and wasn't really sure how to respond. After a moment, however, she couldn't help but give Siobhan a small incredulous grin. "What?"

"I know," Siobhan pressed her lips together in what she probably thought was a sympathetic expression. "It's difficult for you. But honestly, I think it's for the best."

"Why?" Emmeline couldn't help but ask. Could Siobhan have known about her secret feelings? "Sirius is my friend, so what's the big deal if I want to hang out with him sometimes?"

"Ugh, he's a _player_, Emmy," Siobhan huffed and rolled her eyes as if it should have been obvious. "Everybody knows his reputation with girls. What are people going to say when they see you two hanging out together all the time?"

Emmeline faltered. Could Siobhan have a point? "We're just friends," she said again, but with less conviction in her voice. Siobhan shook her head.

"I know you are. But others might not see it that way – especially since you have a boyfriend," she added. "Just think about it, won't you?"

Emmeline could only nod, and Siobhan smiled in a satisfied way before turning and walking away. Emmeline didn't move – she could do nothing but stand where she was, thinking over what Siobhan had just said.

Emmeline knew she and Sirius had been spending more and more time together within the last few weeks. But Sirius hung out with a lot of girls – mainly because he wanted to snog them or hook up with them or something. But Emmeline was just a friend to him. It certainly wasn't because he liked her in _that_ way. She would be an idiot to think she could be any different to him…

All of a sudden, her little crush on Sirius seemed completely ridiculous.

Maybe Siobhan was right – or partly so, at least. Emmeline enjoyed Sirius's friendship too much to completely let him go, but she was now resolved to nip her infatuation with him in the bud. She finally decided, after this past week of torment, to think no more about Sirius. No more dreaming about Sirius, no more fretting about her feelings for Sirius, and no more desperately shoving down any sort of romantic notions about Sirius.

Emmeline smiled to herself - she now felt a thousand times better about this whole situation. She finally had a grasp on her own feelings. Fancying Sirius Black was stupid, she knew, and there was absolutely no reason for her to get so worked up about him anymore.

Feeling lighter, Emmeline began to head back over to their table, determined to put on a normal, friendly face. But as she turned the corner and saw Sirius still sitting at the table, waiting for her, a strange empty sensation began to form in the pit of her stomach.

"Hey, Em," he said to her brightly, flipping a Sickle between his thumb and forefinger. "How'd your girl-talk go?"

Emmeline very much wanted to make a joke, like how they were doing before, but stopped herself. She knew being 'just friends' with Sirius was going to take a little practice. "It was fine," she said simply, setting herself down.

Sirius's grin faltered slightly. "That bad, huh?" he asked, smiling in an attempt at humor. Emmeline bit her lip, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.

"Y'know, I think I'm going to go find Marlene," she said suddenly, getting to her feet. "Want to come?"

Sirius gave her an odd look. "Er… no, you go ahead," he said, and Emmeline nodded before packing away her things.

"See you later," Emmeline swung her bag over her shoulder and turned to leave. Sirius's eyes followed her as she walked away.

"See you," he said quietly, but only after she had gone.

* * *

**Next time: Sirius POV! Hang tight, my lovely readers.**

**Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Coronae Borealis**: Wait no longer! Here is the next chapter for you:)

**iceandfire 105**: Glad to hear you're still invested in the story! Lol well here's the next chapter for you:) Hope you like it!

**Wednesday**

**November 10****th**

**5:45 pm**

**Great Hall**

* * *

Sirius didn't know what to do.

This was saying something, because Sirius flattered himself on always knowing what to do all the time. When he and James had found out about Remus's 'little problem' a few years ago, Sirius did not hesitate on figuring out what he thought they should do because of it. The result of his plan was that they had all opted to become Animagi, which definitely turned out to be one of the best parts of their lives at Hogwarts. Sirius would be lying if he said he wasn't proud of their achievement, and he took credit for being the guy within their group to always have a plan.

The same went for his dating life. When he noticed a pretty girl (and he noticed many here at Hogwarts), he would usually try to formulate some sort of plan in order to get to her. Whether his strategy was to talk to her friends, sit next to her in class, or charm her with his outstanding sense of humor, he would almost always find a way to succeed in his efforts. There was almost never any romantic feelings involved in these plans, at least on his part – the planning that went into these trysts was usually enough of a reward. Indeed, his initial interest in Siobhan Burke didn't have anything to do with his personal feelings for her, but rather because of her reputation for being an unpleasant cow. Sirius liked a challenge, and planning to obtain a girl as beautiful and as horrible as Siobhan seemed almost too perfect an opportunity to pass up.

But, of course, Emmeline Vance had to come along and screw it all up.

Sirius didn't think he had ever met anyone so maddeningly nice. When he had first found out about Emmeline, he was just happy he had found someone that would willingly help him follow through with his plan with Siobhan. The fact that she was so naïve and trusting was just an added bonus. But the more he talked to Emmeline and hung out around her, the more guilty he began to feel about being so manipulative. Emmeline was so sweet to everyone and everything, and pretty soon it became unthinkable for him to take advantage of that unbelievably kind nature. For the first time in his life, he actually began to feel bad about how he treated other girls – 'planning' for girlfriends suddenly seemed like a horrible notion. He ended up having to break up with his girlfriend Alex last week simply because of how bad he felt.

It was only then when he fully realized the extent of Emmeline's influence over him. She had somehow gotten into his head – but he would be lying if he said that he thought it was a bad thing.

Yeah, so he liked Emmeline. It took him a long time to finally figure it out, but once he did, there was no use denying his feelings. It was very strange at first, realizing that he liked her – he couldn't remember ever experiencing emotions for a girl that went beyond just physical attraction. While he had never considered Emmeline to be bad-looking (quite the opposite, in fact), he found that more than anything he just enjoyed being around her. He liked to talk to her and laugh with her about dumb things. He liked watching the way her eyes lit up when she smiled at him…

She had a boyfriend though. He had to keep reminding himself of that.

Sirius would forget himself sometimes (hey, he wasn't perfect), and he would try to flirt with Emmeline. Their canceled Care of Magical Creatures class the other day allowed him to be as charming to her as he could – and for a while his tactics seemed to work. But while he had initially seen that canceled class as an opportunity to spend more time with her, it ended up just being a harsh reminder for him to stop pursuing something he couldn't have:

"_You used to be so nice, Em. What happened to you?"_

"_I guess because I hang out with people like you."_

She was only joking around when she said that to him, but Sirius couldn't help dwelling on it. Maybe there was some truth to what she said – Sirius was hardly the nicest guy in the world, especially when it came to girls. While he liked to think Emmeline could change him for the better, he couldn't ignore the fact that he might just change her for the worse. That sweet, kind innocent girl he liked might one day be gone forever, all because of him…

So Sirius didn't know what to do, and his feelings remained in turmoil and confusion for days on end.

Sirius and James walked together from their last class (Muggle Studies) toward the Great Hall for dinner, and Sirius couldn't help but notice Emmeline was already sitting with Marlene and Amal at the other end of the Gryffindor table. He and James sat down several feet away from them – Emmeline and Sirius made eye contact, and he smiled at her. He was relieved when she smiled back.

"Wonder where Lily is," James said offhandedly as he pulled a platter of potatoes toward him.

"I heard she was looking for you," Sirius said, and James looked up at him, excited, before realizing he was just kidding.

"You shouldn't do that, mate," James slumped his shoulders, scowling. "That's not funny."

"It sort of is," Sirius chuckled, pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice. James shook his head.

"If you'd ever liked a girl, you'd understand," he said stubbornly.

Sirius didn't say anything to that; however, he couldn't help but glance over at Emmeline for a brief second anyway. James noticed, unfortunately.

"What are you looking at?"

Sirius blinked and cleared his throat. "What's that? Oh, er… nothing."

James was giving his friend an odd look, and Sirius quickly changed the subject: "So… where are Moony and Wormtail? I thought they were going to meet us here."

"Oh. Apparently Wormtail's having trouble with Defense Against the Dark Arts again," James rolled his eyes. "He's studying in the common room with Moony right now, but I doubt it'll do any good."

"Does it ever?" Sirius laughed. "I'll bet you five Galleons Wormtail fails all of his NEWTS."

"You're on, Padfoot."

"That's a bit rude, betting against your own friend," Emmeline had suddenly walked up, sitting herself down across from them. Sirius could feel his heartbeat speeding up.

"He knows we're joking," James shrugged unconcernedly. "Besides, we've been helping him with homework for over five years now – there's a point when it all just gets a bit boring."

"I s'pose. But I'm sure he really appreciates all your help," Emmeline said reasonably. Sirius smiled slightly.

"Maybe you should be his teacher, Emmeline," Sirius said, and she laughed.

"Oh no, I'd hate to take your job away from you," she said sweetly, and James and Sirius both laughed.

"Emmeline!" Marlene called from down the table, and motioned to her friend.

"Oh yeah," Emmeline stood up, turning to Sirius. "Marlene and I are going to the library to work on that Transfiguration essay. Want to join us?"

James answered for both of them. "No thanks. You two have fun, though." Emmeline nodded and turned to leave with Marlene, smiling and waving at them as she walked away.

Sirius was feeling mildly annoyed with James. "Y'know, we could have joined her. We do need to work on that essay."

James seemed unconcerned. "Is that really the reason?"

Sirius looked at him, and James looked back, eyebrows raised. Before Sirius could say anything, however, Remus and Peter walked up.

"Hey guys. Sorry we took so long," Remus sat down next to Sirius. "What'd we miss?"

"Nothing much," James turned to Peter, who had sat down next to him. "How'd Defense Against the Dark Arts go?"

"Oh, really well!" Peter perked up. "I'll _definitely _be ready for tomorrow's class!"

Remus shared a glance with Sirius, silently letting him know how the study session actually went. Sirius snickered to himself.

The rest of the evening passed by with little incident. After dinner, the Marauders all headed back to the common room to play a game of gobstones together before turning in for the night. Sirius always felt better when he hung out with his friends, and this night had proven to be just what he needed. He had joked around with Remus, laughed at James' jokes, and playfully picked on Peter – they had gone to bed well past midnight, and Sirius soon fell asleep without any thoughts of Emmeline Vance weighing him down.

* * *

**Thursday**

**November 11****th**

**3:09 am**

**Boys Dormitory**

A couple hours later, Sirius woke up to noises coming from downstairs.

He didn't realize what had woken him up at first. He opened his eyes blearily, rubbing his right eye with the back of his hand and wondering vaguely why he was up. He rolled over, about to fall back asleep just as the sound came again: two people were arguing down in the common room. Sirius's sleepy brain could only just register both of the voices were female, and they both sounded pretty worried about something.

"…But what if something bad happened?"

"…we'll get in trouble…"

"…can't just leave this…"

Sirius was beginning to wake up a bit more, and he sat upright, yawning and stretching. Feeling mildly curious, he slid off his four-poster and padded quietly over to the doors. The other boys were still asleep, and Sirius tiptoed as quietly as he could out of the dormitory and down the stairs toward the common room.

Only a few steps from the bottom, and Sirius could recognize the voices of the two girls arguing: they were Marlene and Lily. Even more curious, he went down to the landing – he saw both of them clad in their pajamas and standing beside the fireplace, where the fire had died down to a low flicker. Neither of them had noticed Sirius as they continued to argue:

"What do you expect us to do?" Marlene demanded of Lily, who looked very upset.

"Well, I'd suggest keeping your voice down," Sirius said, and the girls whipped around at the sound of his voice. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"You stay out of this," Lily snapped at him, but Marlene held her hand out to silence her.

"No, it's okay..."

Marlene turned to face Sirius, and he could see up close how pale and worried she looked. He frowned, glancing between the two girls.

"What's going on?"

Marlene bit her lip, looking as if she were about to cry. "Emmeline's missing."

* * *

**Cliffhangers are the best, aren't they?:) I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but in the meantime - review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Luise_Mau: **Wow, thanks for your wonderful review! I'm so glad that you're enjoying Emmeline's and Sirius's characters. I hope you enjoy this next chapter:)

**iceandfire 105: **Perhaps because I enjoy torturing you?;) Lol just kidding – but here it is! The next chapter for you! Hope you like it.

**Thursday**

**November 11****th**

**3:12 am **

**Gryffindor common room**

* * *

Sirius felt as if the bottom of his stomach had disappeared. "What?"

Marlene bit her lip, her eyes full of unshed tears. "Emmeline's gone. We can't find her anywhere."

"She and Marlene went to the library together after dinner, and Marlene left at eight o'clock," Lily explained to Sirius. "No one's seen Emmeline since then."

"She promised she'd be back by t-ten," Marlene began to cry. "She said she had some extra homework she wanted to d-do. I waited up for her, but she never c-came, so I woke up Lily and… and t-told her everything," she bent her head down, and Lily patted her shoulder consolingly.

"Have you tried looking for her?" Sirius asked. His legs felt like water, and he perched himself on a nearby armchair.

"We can't, it's way past curfew," Lily said. "We'd all get detentions."

"So we should just let our best friend stay missing?" Marlene snapped tearfully.

"Lily, you're a prefect – you could go looking for her without getting in trouble," Sirius stood up again, and Marlene suddenly looked hopeful. Lily shook her head, however.

"I'm not on duty tonight, so I'm not allowed. I'd get in trouble. Look, Marlene –" Lily turned to her friend. "Emmeline probably just fell asleep in the library or something. I'm sure she's fine. We should all go back to bed, and in a few hours, get up and tell a teacher if she's not back yet." She rubbed Marlene's back. "There's no reason to get so worked up. I'm sure everything will be fine."

Marlene didn't look convinced, however, as she turned her tear-stained face imploringly to Sirius. "Sirius – please."

Sirius looked back at Marlene, and they had an immediate understanding: he knew beyond a doubt that neither one of them was going to sit around and do nothing if Emmeline was missing. He turned back toward the boy's dormitory.

"Hold on," he said before hurrying up the stairs. A minute later he came back down, carrying James' Invisibility Cloak under his arm.

"Is that…?" Marlene's eyes widened as she stared at the Cloak. Sirius turned to Lily.

"I'm going to help Marlene go and find her. Is that alright with you?" Marlene beamed, looking immensely relieved.

"Well… I, er…" Lily stammered, taken aback. She looked extremely reluctant to consent to their rule-breaking, but after a moment she sighed, conceding. "I guess so. But if you guys aren't back here within two hours, I will have no choice but to tell Dumbledore what's going on. Assuming you don't get caught, that is."

"Fine," Marlene said hurriedly. "Let's go."

Without further ado, Sirius followed Marlene out of the portrait hole. Lily watched them leave, a worried expression on her face.

* * *

Once they were outside in the Fat Lady's corridor, Sirius handed Marlene the Cloak.

"Here, you take it."

Marlene looked confused. "What? I thought we were going to look for her together."

"We only have a couple hours, and we can cover more of the castle if we split up," Sirius explained. "You can search the dungeons and the first three floors, and I can take the rest."

"Won't you be seen?" Marlene looked uncertain as she took the silken material from him. Sirius shook his head.

"I've snuck out at night loads of times. I don't need a Cloak to stay hidden," he said confidently. Marlene pressed her lips together, and nodded.

"Well, if you're sure…" she unfolded the Invisibility Cloak, which shimmered in the darkness. "Be careful, won't you?"

"Yeah, you too," Sirius turned to leave. "Meet back here in two hours?"

"Yeah – and Sirius?" she added, and he turned back toward her. Her wide eyes seemed to shine brightly in the gloom as she looked at him. "Thank you."

Sirius pressed his lips together. "It's Emmeline," he said simply. Marlene smiled, grateful that he understood what Lily couldn't.

"Yeah."

And with that, they went their separate ways – Sirius turned around and swept off toward the North Wing, while Marlene hurried off to the Grand Staircase, pulling the Cloak over her head as she went. In a matter of seconds, they were both gone.

~/~

Sirius ran for a few seconds before slowing down to a stop. He glanced over his surroundings, making sure no one was there, before transforming into a black dog. He knew he would have a much better chance at finding Emmeline if he were in his Animagus form – all of his senses were sharper, and he would be able to blend into the shadows better with his dark fur. Eyes bright and ears pricked, Sirius bent his head down and began to sniff along the ground, trying to pick up any trace of Emmeline he could find.

Sirius trotted through the North Wing and along the seventh-floor corridor; the stillness of the empty castle allowed his already keen senses to magnify everything tenfold. Occasionally he would pick up a faint scent of someone and follow it, but it always ended up being a teacher or a prefect on guard duty, and he had to quickly dart away before he was seen. He continued on with his search, trying to stay optimistic, but worry constantly weighing down on his heart.

~/~

After almost an hour of searching, Sirius was beginning to grow weary. He sniffedalong the corridor outside the Astronomy Towers without any expectation of finding anything, but when he had reached the south end, he suddenly stopped – his ears pricked up and his nose quivered.

Someone was up in the Astronomy Tower.

It might have just been another teacher, but Sirius was desperate at this point – he ran down the corridor and turned right, bounding up a flight of stairs. The steps began to spiral upward, and he continued to run, panting from the effort. Finally, he made it to the top landing – he leapt quietly up onto the parapet and looked around:

Sitting cross-legged atop one of the turrets, and silhouetted against the dim moonlight, was Emmeline, gazing pensively out into the clear night sky.

Her back was to Sirius, so she didn't immediately see him. However, in his joy at finally finding his quarry, a small yelp escaped him – Emmeline whipped her head around at the noise, and laid her eyes on the massive black dog that was Sirius.

"_What the_ –?!" she screeched, practically falling over from shock. She jumped to her feet and scrambled for her wand; Sirius winced, realizing a second too late he was still a dog.

"Stay back!" Emmeline pointed her wand at Sirius, her hand quivering and her eyes as round as saucers. Sirius, cursing himself, gave a small whimper before quickly transforming back into a human.

"Hey," he held his hands up to her, placating. "Hey – it's alright! It's only me."

Emmeline looked as if she had just received the shock of her life. She dropped her wand, blinking several times as she tried to register what had just happened. "…Sirius?" she whispered, as if afraid she was seeing things. She stepped back, touching a hand to the stone turret behind her.

"Yeah," Sirius took a tentative step toward her, hands still held up. "It's me."

Emmeline didn't say anything at first: she only stared at Sirius, her mind clearly trying to work out what had just happened. "How did you do that?" she finally asked faintly, giving him a bewildered once-over.

"Er…" Sirius slowly walked forward and picked up Emmeline's dropped wand. He straightened up and handed it back to her. "I'm an Animagus. I'm sorry if I scared you, but you weren't exactly supposed to see me… people don't really know yet…"

Emmeline said nothing. She only stared at Sirius, unable to form any words.

"Marlene's been worried sick," Sirius went on awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "She and I have been all over the castle looking for you. She'll be glad to know you're alive," he added, trying to sound cheerful. Emmeline still said nothing, and finally looked away from Sirius toward the door behind him. It was difficult to tell in the dark, but it almost looked as if she had been crying.

"…Is everything okay?" he asked after a moment, beginning to grow concerned. Emmeline glanced down at her hands before turning away.

"Tell Marlene I'm fine," she muttered, her back to Sirius. A cold wind began to blow from the north. "I just wanted to be out here for a bit."

Something was clearly wrong, but Sirius didn't want to push her too much for answers. He looked at Emmeline for a second before slowly walking up to stand next to her on the parapet. They were both silent as they gazed out toward the darkened grounds. "What happened?" he asked after a minute, his voice soft. He glanced over at her, noting how she leaned her head against the turret, tears now streaming down her face. She closed her eyes.

"Reggie broke up with me," she whispered after a moment. Sirius opened his mouth slightly, staring at her with surprise and concern.

"Oh my God…" he said after a moment, and he had a strong urge to comfort her. "Emmeline, I'm so sorry."

She pressed her lips together, looking miserable. "Yeah."

There was a short silence, where Emmeline stared out toward into the starry night with her lifeless gaze. Sirius looked at her, worried.

"It happened tonight?" he asked quietly. She closed her eyes again before nodding.

"In the library," she mumbled, opening her eyes again. "Right after Marlene left. He came up to me and he… he said…" Her eyes began to fill with tears again, and she gulped down a restrained sob. "He said he'd b-been… thinking things over … and… and he…" her shoulders began to shake. "He said he wanted t-to… to…"

She began to cry, unable to finish. Sirius, his heart breaking for her, moved over and pulled her into his arms. She pressed her face into the fabric of his shirt and sobbed unrestrainedly, wrapping her arms around his torso as she did so. Sirius had his arms wrapped around her heaving shoulders, with one hand resting on the back of her blonde head. For about a minute they stayed like that, and Emmeline, controlling herself, quieted her choked sobs before pulling away.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, hiccoughing. She didn't look up at him as she wiped her eyes. "I've been a mess all night."

"No," Sirius said quickly, putting his hand on her shoulder. "No, it's okay. You've a right to be upset."

"I should've seen it coming," she sniffled, and shook her head. "He'd been acting strange for so long – and I should've realized he… he was going to…"

She couldn't continue, and she looked down, closing her eyes. Sirius didn't know what to say, so he opted for silence, rubbing her shoulder and upper arm in a soothing motion. Neither one of them spoke for about a minute, and Sirius eventually removed his hand from her. The wind picked up again, the cold air ruffling their hair and stinging their skin, and Sirius shivered, glancing around.

"Have you been up here all night?" he eventually asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets for warmth. Emmeline sighed, turning and gazing out toward the grounds.

"Yeah," she walked over and leaned against the stone turret again, picking at her nails. "It's what I like to do when I'm upset."

"What – freeze to death?" Sirius asked, and was glad to see she smiled slightly at that.

"No," she gazed out toward the sky again and wiped her eyes. "I talk to my mum."

Sirius stared at her for a second, confused, before he realized what she meant. He felt as if the ground had been knocked out from under his feet – her mother. He had no idea… they had never talked about her before. Sirius suddenly felt like the biggest idiot in the world.

"Oh," he said after a moment. He didn't know what else to say.

"It's alright," Emmeline looked over at him. "I'm not sad about it or anything – it happened when I was just a baby. I don't really have any memories of her," She turned to look back up at the sky. "I just sometimes like to think she's still here with me."

"She is," Sirius said, and quickly added, "I mean – the people we love are always with us, even after death."

Emmeline smiled lightly. "That sounds like something Dumbledore would say."

Sirius couldn't help but grin too. "Yeah, I s'pose so. But that doesn't mean it's not true."

"Yeah," Emmeline smiled down at her hands. A comfortable silence stretched between them.

"So, are you…?" Sirius began awkwardly, and Emmeline looked up at him. "Are you… okay?"

Emmeline smiled before nodding slightly. "Yeah… I think I'll be fine. I didn't realize Marlene was still awake and looking for me - I came up here because I didn't want her to get upset. I promised myself that after tonight I would try to act as normally as possible so I wouldn't worry anyone too much."

Sirius chuckled. "I think it's a little too late for that."

Emmeline sniffled before smiling again. "Just a little."

Sirius laughed, and Emmeline did something that surprised them both: she moved forward and threw her arms around him in a tight embrace. Sirius was surprised, but hugged her back anyway. His heart began to beat a little faster.

"Thank you," she mumbled into his shoulder, and Sirius smiled.

"You're welcome."

Their embrace lingered for several seconds longer than what was probably intended, but Sirius wasn't complaining. He felt he could hold this girl in his arms forever and it would be enough.

"So…" Emmeline finally pulled away, looking up at Sirius with her large, teary eyes. She sniffled, and wiped her running nose. "You're an Animagus, then?"

Sirius couldn't help but laugh again. "Oh. Erm… yeah, I am," he shook his head. "Could you maybe not tell anyone, though?"

Emmeline grinned. "As long as you don't tell anyone I've been up all night on the Astronomy Tower talking to my dead mum."

Sirius nodded, "Deal."

Emmeline giggled, and Sirius was happy to see she was beginning to look like her old self again. Suddenly remembering, he checked his watch, and saw he only had about twenty minutes to get back to Gryffindor Tower before Lily tattled to Dumbledore.

"I need to head back soon," Sirius looked back up at Emmeline. "Do you want to come too, or would you rather stay up here a bit longer? I can explain to Marlene where you are…"

"No, I can come," Emmeline said immediately, wiping her eyes one last time. "I should be okay now. Also, it's getting pretty cold out here," she added, shivering. Sirius nodded before taking her hand and leading the way toward the exit.

~/~

They walked together through the dark castle, not saying anything for fear of a prefect or someone spotting them. However, Sirius didn't mind, knowing they had a lot more to talk about later, mostly regarding her break-up, his secret Animagus form, and perhaps even her mother. He hoped they could talk soon, but until then, he was just happy that, after this emotionally hectic night, she was back with him, safe and sound.

* * *

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I got this one out as fast as I could, so I hope you liked it! **

**Reviews are love:)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Shelbylee824: **Wow, thank you so much – your review really made my day! I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far – my goal was to write a love story that wasn't as conventional as the other stories I often read on FF. And as for Reggie… I've known people like him too:( It's unfortunate, but what can you do? Anyway, hope you like this next chapter!

**Luise_Mau: **Thanks! I have some big plans for future chapters:) Hope you like this one!

**glazedwater: **Thanks for the review – hope you like this new chapter!

**iceandfire 105: **Yeah, I think I foreshadowed their break-up enough:) Lol but yeah I'm glad you liked that part at the end – I had fun writing it:) Here's the next chapter for you!

* * *

**Monday**

**November 15****th**

**5:56 pm**

**Gryffindor common room**

It had been four days since the events up on the Astronomy Tower had occurred, and Sirius had to admit: Emmeline was handling herself amazingly well. When they had met up with Marlene in the Fat Lady's corridor that night, and Marlene had embraced her while crying about how worried she'd been, Emmeline managed to properly reassure her that everything was fine. Even a few hours later, when everyone else woke up and heard about what had happened, Emmeline didn't object to their shocked queries. And after they had found out about Reggie, Emmeline contended pretty well with Marlene's and Lily's consoling hugs, Remus's pitying gaze, Peter's awkward apologies, James's tactless jokes, and Siobhan's angry ranting about how all boys are the same. Emmeline was able to handle everything with grace – Sirius figured she must have been annoyed by all their concern, but if she was, she didn't show it. Perhaps that night crying up on the Astronomy Tower was enough for her, and she didn't want to wallow in it.

Sirius didn't tell the others about what had transpired up on the tower. People like Marlene could have probably figured it out, but in any case, Sirius still said nothing. Emmeline had gone up the tower in order to hide her heartbreak from her friends, and Sirius wanted to respect that. He honestly admired Emmeline's fortitude after being dumped, especially by a guy as awful as Reggie, who had committed to Emmeline for over two years before just leaving her like last night's rubbish. Sirius glimpsed Reggie a couple times over the next few days, in the halls and during mealtimes, and each time he was surrounded by friends, all joking around and laughing cheerfully. Sirius had a strong urge to go up to him and punch him in the face.

Sirius had walked into the Great Hall after class on Monday to notice Reggie at the Ravenclaw table, goofing around and laughing loudly with a rowdy bunch of his mates. Sirius went to go sit down with James and the other Marauders at the Gryffindor table before seeing Emmeline walk into the Great Hall with Siobhan. Emmeline had only walked in a few steps before she too noticed Reggie, and stopped. She stared at him for a few seconds before muttering something to Siobhan and turning back around. She hurried out of the Great Hall while Siobhan simply went to go find her seat at the Gryffindor table, looking like her usual, uncaring self.

"Oh, come on, Evans! You know you want to try it," James said to Lily, passing her a bowl of some sort of fish stew.

"I'd rather _you_ tried it," Lily pushed it back, glaring sarcastically at him. "And then choked on it."

"Ooh, that hurts," James pretended to look wounded as Marlene and Amal laughed.

"Nice one, Lily!"

Sirius glanced around at the others, wondering if they had noticed Emmeline walking out – none of them had, and they continued to joke around while eating dinner. After thinking for a few seconds, Sirius got up from his seat:

"I forgot something in the library," he muttered, grabbing his bag. "Be right back." Without waiting for their response, he quickly turned and hurried out of the Great Hall after Emmeline.

She wasn't in the entrance hall – he figured she had gone up to the common room. He walked up the stairs and around the seventh floor before entering the Fat Lady's corridor. Hoping she was inside Gryffindor Tower, Sirius opened the portrait hole and went inside. He glanced around, and was immensely relieved to see Emmeline sitting beside the fireplace in one of the comfy armchairs; the common room was nearly empty as everyone was currently at dinner. He hesitated only a brief second before walking up to her.

"Hey," he said quietly, and she looked around at him.

"Oh, hey Sirius," she smiled brightly, but he could tell something was wrong by the look in her eyes. "What's up?"

"Nothing," he moved over and sat in the chair adjacent to her. "I saw you leaving, and I was just wondering if you were okay."

"Oh… yeah I'm fine," she said, and cleared her throat, "I mean, why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason," Sirius said quickly. "It's just that… I noticed Reggie at his table, and I just thought…"

He shrugged slightly, not really sure how to continue. Emmeline's face seemed to crumple a bit.

"Oh… yeah," she mumbled, biting her lip slightly. "I, er… saw him too."

"I could hit him for you," Sirius suggested, and Emmeline let out a small burst of laughter. "Or perhaps a black dog could give him a nice big bite on the leg? I have been looking for a new chew toy…"

"Stop," Emmeline giggled, her shoulders shaking from laughter, and she wiped her eyes. "Stop it, that's horrible…"

Sirius leaned back in his chair, smiling lightly. "Not as horrible as what he did to you! He doesn't deserve to be happy – and you definitely don't deserve to be miserable."

Emmeline's smile faded. "I'm not miserable," she said after a moment, although she didn't look very convinced.

"It's okay," Sirius said, and she looked at him. "You can be upset if you want – you don't have to hide it from me. I was up there on that Astronomy Tower with you, remember?"

Emmeline turned away from his gaze. She instead stared down at the floor beside her feet as tears welled up in her eyes. Her lip trembled slightly as she tried to gain control of herself.

"Two years," she finally muttered, her voice shaking. She gulped as a tear slipped down her cheek. "Two years, we were together – and now he just _laughs_…"

A couple more tears escaped her eyes, and she sniffed, unable to continue. Sirius got up from his seat and perched himself on the armrest of Emmeline's chair, placing his hand on her back consolingly. Emmeline wiped her eyes before looking up at him with a watery smile.

"I'm sorry," she said thickly, and sniffled. "I guess I have been pretty miserable these past few days. I've been trying to hide it, though, so Marlene and the others don't worry about me too much."

"You don't have to be sorry," Sirius said, moving his hand along her back. "What you're going through can't be easy, and you've been handling it incredibly well."

"Yeah right," Emmeline sniffled, shaking her head doubtfully.

"But you have!" Sirius insisted. "Do you know how many hours James has spent moping about Lily? You're like a bloody rock compared to him."

Emmeline couldn't help but giggle. "That's sweet, but I think our situations are a bit different."

"That's true. But still…" Sirius stood up and sat back down in his chair. "Heartbreak is heartbreak."

Emmeline looked at him for a moment before nodding sadly, "Yeah."

There was a short pause as Emmeline wiped away the rest of her tears. Sirius just looked at his hands, unsure of what else to say.

"You should be getting back," Emmeline said after a minute. There were no longer tears on her face, and she even managed a small smile as she looked at Sirius. "James and the others are probably wondering where you are."

"Let them wonder," Sirius shrugged. "I'm not leaving you by yourself."

Emmeline smiled. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she shook her head. "You don't have to stay here and make sure I'm alright."

"No," he agreed, "but I want to." Emmeline looked surprised, and Sirius just grinned at her. "I worry about you, Vance."

Emmeline blushed, a smile spreading across her face. "You do?"

"Yeah," Sirius shrugged, glancing down at his hands. "Well, I mean…" he looked up at her again with a small grin. "How do I know you're not going to run off in the middle of the night to the Astronomy Tower again?"

Emmeline laughed. "I guess that makes sense – I _am_ pretty volatile."

"Very," Sirius laughed. "We ought to put a tag on you or something."

They both laughed at that. "That would be a good idea, though," Emmeline said after a moment. "If one of us goes missing, or whatever, the rest of us could just track that person down with a magic spell or something…"

Sirius looked thoughtful. "Hm, that's actually not a bad idea," he said. At that moment, Gryffindor students began coming in through the portrait hole, dinner now being over with. Sirius saw James and the other guys come in, and he got to his feet.

"I'm going to meet up with the guys and do a some homework." He turned to Emmeline, "I'll talk to you later?"

"Sure. Thank you," Emmeline smiled at him. Sirius smiled back at her before turning to leave.

"And Sirius?"

He looked at her again. "Yeah?"

She grinned at him. "Please try not to bite off Reggie's leg."

Sirius shook his head before turning back around. "You never let me have any fun."

* * *

**Monday**

**November 15****th**

**8:16 pm**

**The Library**

"A map?"

Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus were all sitting at a table together in the library. Madam Pince was nearby, so Sirius had to whisper to them the idea he had after talking to Emmeline.

"Yeah – a map of Hogwarts," he explained, glancing around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "A magical one, that showed where everyone is at all times. What do you think?"

Remus and James glanced at each other. "I dunno…"

"We already know this castle really well. Why would we need a map of it?" Peter frowned.

"But that's exactly it," Sirius said to him. "We know Hogwarts better than anyone – we know all the secret passages and hidden entryways and shortcuts. Think about it: how many maps of Hogwarts are there in existence? None!"

"He's got a point," Remus turned to James and Peter. "If we did decide to make a map, we'd be the first."

"But being able to show on the map where everyone is at all times," James frowned at Sirius. "How would we go about doing that?"

"We could look up how to do Tracking Charms, or make a Replicator Potion or something. Whatever it is, we could do it," Sirius looked emphatically at his friends. "Come on, you've all said that since we became Animagi, we haven't had another project to occupy our minds with. This map could be it!"

"What do you think?" Remus and Peter turned to look at James, who was looking at Sirius.

"Hm…" James said, considering the idea. After a moment, he grinned. "...I like it."

Sirius smiled widely at his best friend while Remus and Peter both nodded and smiled at each other.

"Let's put it to a vote," Sirius said confidently, raising his hand. "All in favor say 'aye'."

"Aye!" all the boys chorused together.

"Shh!" Madam Pince hissed from behind a bookshelf.

* * *

**Thank you so much to everyone who had reviewed/favorited/followed this story so far. You're the reason I write:)**


	13. Chapter 13

**glazedwater: **Thank you for the review! I agree, James and Lily are adorable:)

**iceandfire 105: **Thanks! Yeah I realized that the Marauders Map was probably the logical solution to finding Emmeline in the previous chapter, so I decided I would close up that little plot hole:) Lol anyway, enjoy this next chapter!

* * *

**Thursday**

**November 22****nd**

**8:35 am**

**Great Hall**

"…You mean he forgot to add belladonna?" Amal asked, laughing over his bowl of porridge.

Marlene giggled, a piece of toast in hand. "Yeah, he just added the crocodile heart to his Galloping Potion without anything else! The stench was _foul_ – and Slughorn was standing right there."

Marlene and Amal both cracked up. Lily frowned at them both.

"That's not very nice, Marlene," she said while reaching over for the milk jug. "Peter was obviously humiliated by that whole ordeal. You shouldn't be so mean to him."

"But Galloping Potions are like second-year stuff," Marlene insisted. "And he chose it to present for his Potions Demonstration."

"Well, it wasn't like _your_ Polyjuice Potion was perfect," Lily countered. "Slughorn said that your lacewing flies were overcooked."

"Your lacewing flies were overcooked?!" Amal looked appalled. "Marlene, how could you?"

Marlene laughed, and even Lily managed a grin.

"No! I always knew my substandard potions would tear us apart!" Marlene wailed dramatically. Amal cracked up again, and the couple continued to goof around with each other for a few minutes afterward.

Lily, getting bored by their cutesy banter, finally decided to interject: "So Marlene, where's Emmeline? Wasn't she supposed to meet us down here?"

Marlene continued to giggle, wiping her eyes. "No – Emmeline doesn't like coming down to breakfast anymore. She's afraid of running into Reggie."

Amal looked surprised. "You mean she's still upset about their break-up?"

Lily turned to him, shocked. "It's only been two weeks! Of course she's still upset!"

"I'm not trying to be tactless or anything," Amal said quickly. "I just had the impression that she wasn't very upset about their break-up to begin with, that's all."

"For the first few days she wasn't," Lily nodded in agreement. "In fact, I'd almost say she looked _happy_…"

"She just didn't want us all to worry about her," Marlene said quickly. "She has a tendency to do that."

"So why is she so eager to avoid Reggie now?" Lily asked, and Marlene shrugged.

"Since about a week ago she's been talking to me more and more about how upset she is from being dumped. It's sort of weird… I don't know where it's all coming from."

"Remus told me he saw Sirius talking to her in the common room last week," Amal said, choosing a cereal. "He said it looked as if she had been crying about something, and Sirius was comforting her. Maybe it had something to do with Reggie?"

Lily and Marlene stared at Amal.

"_Sirius _was comforting her?" Marlene asked dubiously, and Amal nodded.

"Sirius _Black_?" Lily said, making sure she understood correctly. "The guy who chucks flobberworms at teachers in class?"

Amal nodded again, looking amused. "Yeah."

The two girls looked at each other. "I do _not _understand what Emmeline has over him," Marlene shook her head bemusedly.

"It's like he's a completely different person around her!" Lily agreed. "When he said he was going out to look for her that night she went missing, I almost couldn't believe it."

"It was a bit strange," Marlene nodded in agreement.

"Maybe Sirius likes Emmeline," Amal suggested. There was a short silence, where the girls just stared at him.

"Sirius doesn't _like_ girls," Lily said after a moment.

"Or rather, he only likes certain _parts_ of girls," Marlene clarified, and Lily giggled.

Amal shrugged. "That may be, but I've seen the look on his face when he's around Emmeline. It reminds me back when I first started noticing you," he grinned at Marlene, who smiled, rolling her eyes and blushing.

Lily frowned at Amal. "Wait – so you really think Sirius likes Emmeline?"

Amal shrugged again. "It would make sense. He's always hanging out with her, and it doesn't seem like he has an ulterior motive about it."

Lily and Marlene looked at each other. Their eyes seemed to communicate what they wanted to ask out loud: _What do you think?_

"Em knows better than to get involved with a guy like Sirius," Lily said quickly. "She's nice, but she's not stupid."

"But if he _does_ like her," Marlene still looked a bit worried. "There isn't much we can do about that, can we?"

"No," Lily sighed, looking troubled. "But like I said – Emmeline knows better than that. She _just_ broke up with Reggie, and I doubt she's willing to just jump into another relationship. And I'm sure Sirius'll hook up with another pretty girl and forget all about Emmeline," she added with certainty.

"Let's hope so," Marlene said, turning back to her meal.

Amal didn't say anything out of respect for Marlene's fierce overprotectiveness of Emmeline, but he honestly felt differently about the whole issue. If Sirius did like Emmeline (and Amal was quite sure that he did), why would that be such a terrible thing? While Amal wasn't exactly Sirius's biggest fan, the fact that Sirius was even remotely interested in a girl like Emmeline showed that he was at least beginning to grow up on an emotional level. And even Emmeline, who Amal actually did like, could benefit from being with a guy as fun and easygoing as Sirius.

Amal knew better than to say any of this out loud, however. Besides – what did he know? He was just the guy who had been in a healthy, happy relationship for over eight months…

* * *

**Thursday**

**November 22****nd**

**7:13 pm**

**Gryffindor common room**

"Hey."

Remus approached the table where James was working alone. Charts and calculations and cartography sketches littered the small work space – James was writing feverishly on a long piece of parchment, the heading of which spelled out in a coded message "The Marauder's Map."

"Hey, Moony," James barely glanced up from his work. "Did you find it?"

"Sort of," Remus plopped himself down in the chair opposite James, dropping his bag stuffed with library books at his feet. "There aren't any records of the original schematics of Hogwarts castle, as I had already told you, but there are actually a lot of history books regarding the building of the school. I figured one of them might be helpful."

"Yeah, definitely," James looked up at Remus with a grin. "Sorting through all of them might be a good job for you, eh?"

Remus rolled his eyes, smiling. "How generous of you."

"What can I say? I'm a giver," James turned back to his writing. The two boys fell silent for a bit as James continued to work on the map and Remus began sorting through all the books in his bag. He picked up one that looked promising, _The Four Houses: A Detailed History of Hogwarts' Origins_.

"So where are Padfoot and Wormtail?" Remus opened the large tome and began to read. "I thought they were going to help you tonight."

"Right now they're in the library researching spells or potions we can use on the project," James said. They had agreed to refer to the Marauder's Map as "the project" when discussing it in public. "They should be back pretty soon."

"Think they're gonna find anything?" Remus flipped the page.

"I guess we'll see," James said, suddenly glancing up and setting his quill down. Remus turned around to see Peter scurrying towards them from the portrait hole, carrying a large stack of parchment in his arms.

"We found some great stuff," Peter said excitedly, setting the stack down on the table on top of James' work. "Padfoot found the recipe for that potion used to make photographs move in a person's likeness, and he reckons we can tweak it a bit so we can use it for the people on our map."

"Great, but who said anything about a map?" James asked Peter coolly, flipping through the stack of parchment.

"Oh, er… _project_. Sorry," Peter stammered, going red.

"Where's Padfoot?" Remus asked, glancing around.

Peter looked over his shoulder, frowning. "He was right behind me…"

The three boys looked around the crowded common room, and after a few seconds Remus spotted him, standing on the other side of the room and talking to Emmeline.

"There he is," Remus pointed him out and the other two looked that way.

"He ditched us for Emmeline?" Peter frowned in confusion.

"He's just talking to her," Remus turned back to his book, but noticed the look on James' face. "What?"

James shook his head and turned back to his work. "Nothing… I just wonder about him, that's all."

"Why's that?" Peter asked, sitting down beside Remus.

"I dunno," James shook his head again. "It's just…" he hesitated, looking awkward. "He's a bit weird about Emmeline, isn't he?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah, I've noticed that too. I mean, he didn't even know who she was at the beginning of the year, and now he goes chasing after her when she goes missing in the middle of the night…"

"Right?" James looked relieved he wasn't the only one who noticed his odd behavior. "And just last week during dinner I caught him staring at her!"

Remus and Peter looked at each other. "Do you think, maybe…?" Remus began to ask, but James cut him off.

"No," he said firmly. "Padfoot doesn't like girls. Or at least in the conventional sense, he doesn't."

The three boys turned to look at Sirius again – he was cracking up over something Emmeline had said to him, and she was smiling widely.

"People change," Remus said fairly, turning back to James. "Em's a really nice girl – I can see why Padfoot would like her."

"But Emmeline had been with that guy Reggie for years," Peter noted. "Why would Padfoot try to go after a girl like her?"

"I dunno," Remus turned to look at James, a small smirk on his face. "But the heart wants what it wants – right, Prongs?"

James rolled his eyes, but otherwise ignored that remark. "Look, if Padfoot likes Emmeline, then there isn't really much we can do about it. But I'm telling you – Sirius isn't the type of guy who gets involved with girls like Emmeline."

"So you don't think Emmeline could change his mind?" Peter asked, and James stood up.

"People don't change," he said firmly, and with that he began to walk over to where Sirius and Emmeline were talking, clearly going to extract his best friend from his conversation to discuss their project.

"Well, he's never going to win Lily over with _that_ attitude," Remus muttered under his breath, and Peter laughed.

* * *

**Sorry, but this was just a little interlude I felt like writing. I tried to upload it earlier, but FF was down for several hours and nobody could upload anything.**

**I'll try to update as soon as I can - but in the meantime, review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**glazedwater: **Yes, he is pretty insightful:) lol enjoy this next chapter!

**Luise_Mau: **I know, I'm excited too! Hope you enjoy this next chapter:)

**iceandfire105: **Thanks! Yeah it was down for at least 9 hours, from what I heard. I wasn't at my computer enough to know for sure, but when I was finally ready to upload the next chapter, I was unpleasantly surprised. Hope this chapter comes out in good time though! Lol

* * *

**Monday**

**December 3****rd**

**5:24 pm **

**Library**

Emmeline was getting used to skipping meals. Not that she was trying to starve herself or anything – she ate periodically between classes and in the common room when doing homework and stuff. It had just become a habit with her, and the fact that she didn't have to see Reggie anymore at mealtimes was an added bonus. While the pain of their breakup had faded significantly within the last three and a half weeks, she still found she was much happier when the prospect of seeing him again wasn't nagging at the back of her brain.

During meals, therefore, she would usually retire to the library, finding a strange sort of solace in all the books around her. Marlene never joined, for which Emmeline was grateful – she liked to be alone from time to time. Plus, the solitude allowed her to get through the mountain of homework that was constantly weighing her down.

She wandered her way through the shelves, searching for a book on magical sea creatures for her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. She thought she was alone in the library, but turning a corner, she noticed the Marauders all sitting together at a table some ways away, their heads together while working on a project. Remus glanced up when she passed by and grinned; she waved back at him with a smile before moving along.

The next shelf over was wizarding genealogy. While Emmeline knew she was supposed to be looking in the magical creatures section for a book, she couldn't help but take a little detour this way. She began to walk slowly down the genealogy aisle, inspecting the familiar rows of books detailing the bloodlines of all the different pureblood families.

She ran her fingers over the ancient bindings, gazing at them all with a hint of sadness in her eyes. Her years of research had brought up no results, but a small part of her still hoped to one day find something…

In the silence of the near-empty library, Emmeline could hear the Marauders talking several yards away behind the shelf. She caught snippets of a conversation:

"Brass scales?" Sirius's voice sounded confused.

"Er, yeah…" Remus said, sounding a bit odd. "To measure the, er, potion ingredients… we can't use mine 'cause I leant them to Marion Seville last week."

"Well, what about Wormtail's?"

"Oh… er… erm, mine are, er… broken," Peter stammered, sounding as odd as Remus.

"Okay…" Sirius said slowly, obviously picking up on his friends' weird behavior. "So what do we do then?"

Remus had lowered his voice enough so Emmeline couldn't pick up on what he was saying; however, she could faintly hear phrases like "over there" and "go ask." Emmeline, feeling like she was eavesdropping, tried to put her focus back on the books, but a few moments later there was the sound of footsteps approaching, and Sirius had suddenly appeared around the corner.

"Emmeline!" he grinned happily when he saw her, and he strode towards her. "Remus told me you were somewhere around here."

Emmeline smiled back, her heart thumping a little faster as she did. "Hey, yeah – what's up?"

"Not much. The guys and I need some brass scales for a potion we're brewing," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Apparently we don't have any to spare."

"Oh yeah?" Emmeline asked, biting back a smile. Sirius smirked at her.

"Yeah," he dropped his voice to a low whisper and glanced over his shoulder, grinning. "You know, my friends can be real bloody morons sometimes…"

Emmeline tried to suppress her giggles with little success, and Sirius snickered along with her.

"So you've come over to take my brass scales, then?" she grinned, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Sirius's smile faded, and he blinked at her.

"What's that? Oh, er yeah…" he suddenly looked a bit embarrassed. "Just for today. Er, if it's alright with you, of course…"

"What? Oh yeah – it's totally fine," Emmeline said, smiling self-consciously. Why did the atmosphere suddenly get weird?

"Great," he smiled crookedly at her, and he looked her in the eyes for a moment. "Erm… thanks Emmeline."

Emmeline blushed, "No problem."

They stood there awkwardly for a few moments before Emmeline finally said: "My, er, potions bag is upstairs, so…" she gestured meekly past him.

"Oh, right – of course," Sirius said quickly, stepping aside. She began to walk back down the aisle, and to her surprise, Sirius fell in step beside her.

He was heading up to Gryffindor Tower with her… that was a bit unexpected. Emmeline's heart couldn't help but thump a little faster with what she could only describe as delight.

She and Sirius walked together toward the exit. As they went, they heard Remus, James, and Peter all snickering about something back at their table.

"So this is where you go during mealtimes now?" Sirius asked conversationally once they were out of the library and walking down the corridor. "I feel like I only see you in class nowadays."

"Oh… yeah," Emmeline's cheeks went pink. "A lot of homework to do, you know…"

Sirius nodded with a wry smile, "I know the feeling."

Emmeline smiled slightly, but said nothing else. There was a short pause as they continued to walk along.

"So… you're writing an essay about pureblood families or something?" Sirius asked after moment, and Emmeline remembered he had found her in the wizarding genealogy section. She blushed.

"What? Oh, no…" she said quickly. "Actually –" she hesitated a brief moment before shaking her head resignedly. "No, it's stupid."

"What?" Sirius sounded curious, and Emmeline bit her lip.

"Well," she said, and paused a moment. Sirius wouldn't laugh at her…

"I was looking up my mum's family, actually."

Sirius stopped in his tracks. He stared at her, looking heartily surprised, and Emmeline felt a small twinge of embarrassment shoot through her chest. She stopped to look at him.

"Your mum?" Sirius asked, brow furrowed. Emmeline glanced down at her hands and nodded.

"Yeah, er... she was a Greengrass," she looked back up at him. "One of the old wizarding families? My dad told me right before I left for Hogwarts."

Sirius was still staring at her. He blinked. "Oh."

"I don't really know much about her family, though – a lot of them sort of died out or married into Muggle families…" Emmeline went on. She and Sirius resumed walking down the corridor. "My dad's a Muggle, so he didn't really know a whole lot about it. Just that her name was Greengrass."

"I see," Sirius muttered. He paused for a moment. "So you were trying to research more about her family in the library?"

Emmeline shook her head dubiously. "I'd been trying for over five years – there's hardly any information on the Greengrass family. Most of the genealogies I found here were on the Black family, actually…" She smirked slightly, thinking Sirius would find his famous ancestry amusing. To her surprise, however, she caught him scowling to himself.

"Oh, I… I'm sorry," she stammered apologetically, blushing once again. Why didn't she remember he was sensitive about his family name?

Sirius's face softened. "No, it's okay," he muttered, looking slightly embarrassed. "It's not your fault… I just wish I could do something about your mum."

Emmeline didn't say anything for a moment. "It's all in the past," she eventually said with a shrug. She then looked at him with a small grin: "Besides – the people we love are always with us, even after death. Right?"

That was what he had said to her the night on the Astronomy Tower. Sirius stared at her for a moment before smiling slowly; there was an expression in his eyes that Emmeline had never seen in him before, but it made her heart glow.

"Right," he said quietly, his smile still in place.

They had finally reached the Fat Lady's portrait, and they clambered through it into the Gryffindor common room. Emmeline then turned to Sirius.

"My stuff's upstairs –" she gestured toward the girl's dormitory. "Erm… I'll just be a minute."

"Okay," Sirius smiled at her, and Emmeline blushed slightly before smiling back at him. She turned and hurried away up the stairs.

Sirius glanced around – a few people were back from dinner already, and were milling around while chatting amongst themselves. He shoved his hands awkwardly in his pockets.

"You think you're so smooth, don't you?"

Sirius glanced to his left, and noticed Siobhan Burke sitting alone beside a window and staring at him. She stood up, her snooty expression firmly in place as she tried to glare him down. Sirius wasn't going to be intimidated, however.

"Sorry?" He said to her coolly. "Did you say something?"

Siobhan took a step toward him, almond-shaped eyes narrowing. "What are you doing with Emmy?"

Sirius frowned at her. "I think she prefers 'Emmeline'…and it's none of your business."

Siobhan placed her hands on her hips, tilting her chin so her features looked more attractively menacing. "You don't think I know your angle, Black?"

She took another step toward him, and Sirius didn't know how to respond, so he said nothing.

"Everybody at Hogwarts knows your reputation," she went on, looking strangely triumphant. She took another step toward him and stopped, her eyes boring into his. "You just use girls like Emmy to your own advantage before turning around and breaking their hearts."

She looked fiercely pleased with herself for figuring him out, and she quirked an eyebrow, daring him to disagree. Sirius maintained his casual expression, however.

"_Emmeline_ is a friend," he said, stressing her correct name. "And the girls I usually pursue aren't like her." _She's better_, he wanted to say, but stopped himself.

Siobhan stepped forward so that she and Sirius stood about a foot apart. They looked challengingly into each other's eyes. "Hm," she said after a moment, raising both eyebrows. "So she doesn't match well with the 'Great Sirius Black'?" she asked snootily.

Sirius frowned at her again, very aware of how close she was getting. Siobhan smirked at him with her perfect lips.

"…So who exactly could the right girl for you be, then?" she mused quietly, her eyes taunting him. Sirius stared back at her, gulping.

Someone behind him suddenly cleared their throat, and Sirius whipped around. Emmeline was standing there with her brass scales in hand, staring questioningly at the two of them. Sirius immediately took a step away from Siobhan, who had suddenly slipped away without a word.

"Oh… erm, thanks Em," Sirius walked up to Emmeline and took the scales she handed him. "So, er… I'll get these back to you tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah. Sounds good," Emmeline nodded, still frowning in a slightly confused way. Sirius, cheeks burning, quickly turned toward the portrait hole and hurried back toward the library, thankful to be out of Emmeline's questioning gaze.

* * *

**Hope you liked this chapter guys! If you did, please review!**

**PS: I seriously love writing for Siobhan - does that make me a terrible person too? ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

**glazedwater: **Well, I'm glad you think so:) Here's the next chapter for you!

**iceandfire 105: **Is she ever?:) Lol thanks again! Hope you like this next chapter!

* * *

**Friday**

**December 14****th**

**8:07 pm **

Despite the fact that finals were fast approaching, and the Gryffindor sixth years were being given more homework than they ever thought possible, school seemed to be last thing on everyone's minds. Perhaps it was just fatigue due to their prolonged time spent writing essays and scribbling down notes and reading enough books to fill a moderately-sized library, but the students of Hogwarts seemed to be much more interested on their upcoming Christmas vacation, which was beginning in only seven days. Indeed, when the invitations to Slughorn's annual Christmas party were finally sent out, the focus of the students seemed to be less on their finals and more on how amazing the last, big Christmas party of the term was going to be.

Sirius, James, and Remus had all received their invites – Peter was the only one of the group who had never been in Slughorn's favor. He watched rather sulkily as the other boys excitedly discussed the party, which was set to happen that Friday, the day of their last exam.

"I'm going to do it – I'm going to ask Lily to go to the party with me," James said boldly as the four of them walked along the corridor toward Gryffindor Tower. Sirius and Remus shook their heads at one another.

"Even though I'm sure she'll say yes," Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure Lily's already going to the party, Prongs. She's, like, Slughorn's prize student."

James still looked resolute, however. "Well, _I'm _his other favorite," he insisted. "If we go together, we'll be like the King and Queen of Slughorn's fan club. We'll be a match made in heaven!"

"Yeah, 'King and Queen Slug'," Peter murmured under his breath. Sirius and Remus both burst out laughing, and James frowned at them.

"Well, I don't see you two looking for dates," James snapped. "Padfoot – who are you going to bring?"

Sirius's grin faded. One person came to mind, but he tried to ignore it. "I'm sure I'll find someone," he said, attempting to sound casual.

The others went quiet, which Sirius thought was odd. They had finally reached the Fat Lady's corridor, however, and his attention was diverted. "'Lemmiwinks'," he said the password once they reached the portrait, and she swung open to admit them.

The four of them had entered the common room when Marlene suddenly approached them, a rather determined expression on her face.

"Hi," she said, smiling briskly. She turned to look at Sirius. "Care for a game of wizard's chess, Sirius?"

Her manner was resolute – James, Remus, and Peter all looked at Sirius in confusion, clearly wondering what was going on. Sirius stared at Marlene for a second before glancing at his friends, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Erm… yeah, sure," he forced an easy grin on his face. "Lead the way, McKinnon."

Marlene gave him a tight-lipped smile before turning on her heel and heading over toward the other side of the room where the chessboard was set up. Sirius looked at his friends and shrugged.

"Er, we'll be in the dormitory," James frowned after Marlene, still looking puzzled. "Gonna work on the project a bit. See you later," And with that, he, Peter, and Remus had gone. Sirius turned in the other direction and followed Marlene to where she was waiting.

"So… looking for someone to beat you tonight?" Sirius plopped himself down in the chair opposite Marlene, smirking. He wasn't sure exactly why she had asked him to play, but at least it was something other than homework.

"No – just a little friendly competition," she said simply, smiling at him. She had given him white, so he moved first; they were silent for a several minutes as they played. Sirius was surprised to find she was actually quite skilled at wizard's chess.

"Going to Slughorn's Christmas party on Friday?" Marlene asked conversationally, taking one of his knights out with her bishop.

"Yep. You?" Sirius retaliated by taking her rook with his queen.

"Amal got the invite, so I'm going as his plus-one," Marlene's cheeks went a bit pink as she spoke. Sirius grinned at her.

"You're not part of the Slug Club? Bloody hell, McKinnon – how do you expect to move up in the world?"

"Without the help of teachers who play favorites, I s'pose," she retorted. She moved her bishop so it was dangerously close to his king. "Check."

Sirius, who had seen that move a mile away, quickly took out the bishop with his pawn. "Well, playing favorites is how the world works, Marlene. Slughorn's party is merely a celebration of that fact." He smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes.

"How enlightening," Marlene directed her knight across the board to take out his rook. She hesitated a second or two before asking him a question: "Are you planning on bringing anyone to the party?"

Sirius, who had been contemplating his next move, stopped to look at Marlene. She stared determinedly back at him, and he knew the person she was thinking of.

"I might be," he said, regarding her suspiciously. He moved his knight and it took out one of her pawns with a violent thrust. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," she said quickly, and she moved another one of her pawns, blocking his bishop. They were silent for several seconds as they continued to play, but Sirius knew this discussion was far from over.

"You know… I think Emmeline got an invitation to the party," Marlene finally said in a would-be-casual voice, taking out one of his pawns with her rook.

So this was why she asked him to play, Sirius thought – she just wanted to talk to him about Emmeline. He moved his queen a couple spaces forward, pressing his lips together. "Good for her."

"I doubt she's going to go, though," Marlene continued doggedly, moving her queen diagonally so it took out his other rook. It made a very dramatic show of being dead. "She hasn't anyone to go with. Also, we heard Reggie and the rest of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team are going to be there."

"Oh," Sirius muttered, and he couldn't help but feel a small twinge of disappointment at the idea that Emmeline wasn't coming. But why was Marlene even telling him all this?

"Is there a reason for all this information, Marlene?" Sirius asked brusquely. He moved his knight so it landed right next to her king. "Check."

Marlene bit her lip, and quickly took out Sirius's knight with one of her pawns. She didn't answer immediately as she watched the pawn savagely beat his knight into submission.

"I think you know," she said quietly, looking beadily up at him. Sirius felt as if his heart stopped in his throat, and he could do nothing but stare back at her. After a few seconds, however, he finally seemed to gain some control over some of his faculties. He forced a small grin.

"Know what?" he asked as casually as he could. He drew in a deep breath before quickly reaching forward and moving his queen back several spaces so it was out of range from her rook. "Your move."

Marlene looked at him for a moment before sighing, lowering her head in what Sirius believed to be exasperation. "Amal was right…" she mumbled, shaking her head. Sirius frowned, but before he could respond to that, she looked back up at him, her face set.

"Look Sirius," she said to him, staring firmly into his eyes. "I don't think you should ask Emmeline to the party."

Sirius stared back at her, shocked by her bluntness. There was a brief moment where he could do nothing but just look at her, blinking, before a surge of indignation suddenly welled up in his chest:

"Who said I was going to ask her to anything?" he snapped, feeling suddenly defensive. "And don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do."

Marlene frowned at him. "I'm just letting you know what I think. You obviously care about her, and I want to make sure she doesn't get hurt again."

Sirius was too shocked to speak – it felt like something large and unpleasant was stuck in his throat, and he just stared at Marlene, momentarily winded.

"You think –" he began, but couldn't continue. He swallowed, and forced himself to speak again, sputtering his disbelief: "You think I'd… I'd hurt her like Reggie did?" The very thought made him want to hurl or punch something.

Marlene's expression softened. "No, I don't," she said. "I'm just saying that you and Emmeline…" she shook her head, still frowning. "You're not cut from the same cloth. She's only ever been with one person, where you…" he gestured toward him, looking awkward. "Well… haven't."

Sirius wanted to protest her assertion that he only ever wanted one thing from girls, but couldn't bring himself to. On some deep, dark level in his mind, he knew she was right.

"Emmeline and me… we're not 'together'," he said quietly, frowning down at his hands. His heart clenched over something he couldn't quite comprehend. "...Why are we even having this discussion?" he mumbled even quieter, his voice almost indecipherable. Marlene heard him, however.

"I'm just trying to look out for my friend," she said gently. "I'm not saying that you'd set out to hurt her, but Emmeline's been hurt by a guy before. I want to do everything in my power to make sure that that doesn't happen again." She let out a sigh before smiling slightly at him. "I know that Emmeline really cares about you, Sirius. It's nice to see, really."

Sirius didn't say anything. Marlene silently reached forward and moved her queen so it was right beside his king. It was a checkmate, but out of kindness Marlene didn't say the word – instead, she quietly stood up and made to leave.

"So that's it then?" Sirius asked abruptly, and Marlene turned to look at him. "Conversation over?"

She looked at him for a second before smiling slightly. "For now," she said quietly. And with that, she turned around and walked away.

Sirius just watched her leave, unable to do anything else. Now that she was gone, he finally seemed to be able to register what had just happened – bloody hell, Marlene knew about his feelings for Emmeline! How did she know? And for how long? Was she going to tell?

His and Marlene's conversation came back to him, and his heart sank. Marlene thought Emmeline would get hurt if Sirius pursued her, and Sirius knew on some level in his mind that she was right. He had only ever dated a certain type of girl – girls who were vapid and conceited and beautiful enough to get whatever they wanted. For a while, Sirius had been perfectly happy with these girls, and he would go through one after the other without losing a wink of sleep. It was only through meeting Emmeline that he even realized that he could be getting so much more out of these relationships…

Sirius frowned to himself, feeling dejected. Emmeline was so amazing… she could do much better than the likes of him.

She wasn't going to Slughorn's party, and Sirius figured that was probably for the best. It would give him a chance to readjust to this whole situation, and maybe have a little fun without thoughts of Emmeline weighing him down. He figured after the party, and Christmas vacation, he could finally put his feelings behind him and start acting like his old self again.

He gazed around the common room and spotted Siobhan sitting nearby, her lip curled in disgust as she read through her Potions book. She idly twirled a piece of hair in her finger before glancing up and noticing Sirius watching her. Her eyes narrowed at him in contempt before turning resolutely back to her book; her posture straightened noticeably, and she fluttered her eyelashes imperceptibly as she turned the page, continuing to read.

Sirius continued to look at her, and sighed. He knew what he had to do, and a small part of him felt awful about it. He stood up, however, determined.

It was time to capture the most beautiful and elusive girl at Hogwarts.

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**So sorry for the late update, guys:( College plus two part-time jobs can really take up a lot of time and energy. Rest assured, however, that no matter how crazy my life gets in the coming weeks, I will try to make this story a priority:)**

**Hope you liked this chapter, and please review!**


	16. Chapter 16

**glazedwater: **Well, I'm glad you loved it! Lol enjoy this next chapter.

**Coronae Borealis: **Awww that's so sweet of you!:) I do hope you try writing your own fic someday, though – it can really be a lot of fun! But for now, I'm glad you're enjoying my story:) Thanks again!

**iceandfire 105: **Thanks! I guess you'll see in this next chapter…:)

* * *

**Monday**

**December 17****th**

**9:45 am**

News of it spread over the weekend, and by Monday morning, practically everybody at Hogwarts knew that Sirius Black was taking Siobhan Burke to Slughorn's Christmas party. Mainly girls were responsible for spreading the word, mostly due to their jealousy and reproach toward Siobhan for managing to snatch up the hottest guy in school. The fact that Siobhan was practically drop-dead gorgeous didn't really help matters either, and their envy was almost palpable. These girls shuffled around Hogwarts together in large groups, muttering waspishly about her amongst themselves.

Emmeline heard a group of girls whispering together as she and Lily headed toward the sixth floor to take their Arithmancy exam. While Emmeline made it a point never to listen to rumors or eavesdrop on other people's conversations, snippets of their murmured discussion couldn't help but reach her ears as they passed. She frowned slightly when she heard them say a familiar name.

"Er… did I hear correctly, or were they talking about Siobhan?" Emmeline asked Lily hesitantly, looking back toward the cluster of girls. Lily, who had been walking and reading her notes at the same time, glanced over at them too.

"What's that? Oh, yeah…" Lily rolled her eyes, turning back to her notes. "Probably. Sirius asked Siobhan to go with him to Slughorn's Christmas party on Friday, and it's all anyone's been able to talk about. It's not like we have finals today or anything," she added sarcastically, flipping to the next page of her notes.

Emmeline said nothing. She felt as if her stomach had suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a dark, twisting knot, pulling on her insides. Sirius and Siobhan? No, that had to be a mistake. Sirius didn't like Siobhan, he had been clear about that. Hadn't he? There was no way he would actually pursue her… would he?

"Sirius asked out Siobhan?" Emmeline asked, trying to sound uninterested. She was aware that her voice seemed to go half an octave higher, and she cleared her throat.

"Oh…" Lily quickly glanced up at Emmeline, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Erm… he might've. It's just a rumor. I don't know if it's actually true."

Emmeline only blinked, saying nothing. She would have dearly liked to believe that it was just a rumor too, but the uncomfortable twisting of her insides seemed to believe otherwise.

"C'mon," Lily said quietly. She seemed to understand Emmeline's discomfort. "We've got the Arithmancy exam to take."

Emmeline nodded, still remaining silent. Of course, they had finals – she couldn't allow herself to be distracted by these unpleasant thoughts. Taking a deep breath, she forced her mind on the complicated number charts from _Numerology and Grammatica_ she spent all night memorizing and determinedly not on Sirius Black.

* * *

Two hours later, the students of Hogwarts had gotten through their first exam, and they all now began to flood the Great Hall for lunch, chatting loudly with one another. Lily and Emmeline met up with Marlene and Amal, and the four of them sat down together at Gryffindor table to discuss their exam.

"Charms is done for me," Amal grinned, grabbing two ham sandwiches from a nearby platter. "It was pretty easy, too – Flitwick just gave us questions on stuff we already reviewed…"

"Well don't tell us that," Lily admonished, pouring herself a goblet of pumpkin juice. "Do you want us to cheat on our own Charms final?"

"Who's cheating?" Amal said innocently. "I'm just letting you know it was easy."

"Well, Ancient Runes was impossible," Marlene sulked, scooping mashed potatoes onto her plate. "I had to guess on three of the questions, and one of the runes I had never even seen before – it looked like a roach wearing lederhosen."

Lily and Amal laughed, but Emmeline was barely listening – she had glimpsed the Marauders all sitting together several yards away. Sirius was chatting with Peter about something and grinning widely.

"Emmeline?" Marlene's voice brought Emmeline out of her reverie. "How was Arithmancy for you?"

"What?" Emmeline turned and blinked at Marlene. "Oh. It was fine, I s'pose… I think I did alright." Not knowing what else to say, she began to fill her empty plate with food. Marlene frowned slightly at her, but said nothing.

"Well, I dunno about you, but I think the rest of the exams are going to be a breeze," Amal said with satisfaction, taking a bite out of a crumpet. Lily rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Several seats away, Sirius had stood up and made to leave the table by himself. Emmeline watched him leave, and had a strong impulse to follow him. She suddenly got to her feet.

"Er, 'scuse me," she glanced down and blushed. "Er… bathroom."

Ignoring her friends' surprised looks, Emmeline grabbed her bag and hurried out of the Great Hall. She could hardly think – all she felt was a sick, burning sensation in her chest. She didn't know exactly why she was doing it – only that she had a pressing need to know, to understand him.

_Why her?_

She noticed Sirius already halfway across the entrance hall and she strode towards him.

"Sirius!"

Sirius turned and saw her. Something passed across his face as she approached him, but he grinned all the same when she stopped in front of him. "Hey Emmeline. What's up?"

She blinked up at him, feeling suddenly awkward. The burning feeling seemed to dissipate when she looked at him, and the impulsivity of her actions suddenly hit her – why was she accosting him about Siobhan? It was none of her business. Emmeline blushed, feeling rather foolish.

"I, er…" she stammered, looking down. "I… was just wondering how your first exam went, that's all."

Sirius blinked, and smiled again, looking slightly relieved. "Oh! Yeah, Ancient Runes went pretty well, I think. Although there was this one rune I'd never seen before that looked like a beetle wearing a cross-hatching. How was yours?"

Emmeline smiled tremulously, feeling slightly more at ease. "Okay, I guess. Arithmancy is my hardest class, so I figure everything else after it will be easier by comparison."

"Well that's good," Sirius grinned, sounding sincere, and Emmeline's heart thumped a little faster. "I was just about to run up to the common room," he continued, glancing toward the Grand Staircase. "I've got my Divination final next, and I was just going to grab my things…"

Emmeline pressed her lips together and nodded, brow furrowed. "Right. Yeah… sorry. I – I didn't mean to keep you..."

She didn't move, however, and just shifted awkwardly on her feet. Sirius seemed to notice her discomfort, and he frowned. "Is everything alright, Em?"

Emmeline swallowed, her heart thumping erratically.

_Just do it..._

"Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine… it's just… I dunno," she shrugged slightly, attempting a friendly smile. "I guess I'm just surprised you never told me," Her heart thumped a bit faster as she spoke, and she glanced away.

Sirius looked confused. "Told you?"

"That you still liked Siobhan." The words tasted bitter in her mouth as she said them.

Sirius paled. He blinked several times as he stared at her – now he was the one looking uncomfortable. "Oh. You heard about that…" he muttered.

"You asked her to Slughorn's Christmas party?" Emmeline asked quietly, gazing up at him. Her heart was still thumping loudly as she looked at him.

Sirius looked back at her, something profound and unreadable swimming in the back of his eyes. After a moment he swallowed. "Er… yeah."

That hurt. More than she thought it would. It took a monumental effort for her not to break down into tears, and she was even able to force a smile onto her face: "Well, if you'd told me that you still liked her I could have helped you out."

Sirius blinked, looking confused. "Wh…?"

"I mean, isn't that why you initially started talking to me?" Emmeline tried to keep the hurt out of her voice, but knew she probably failed miserably. "To get with Siobhan?"

"No!" Sirius said quickly, looking appalled. "No, Emmeline…"

"But I guess you didn't need my help after all," she murmured, her brow furrowed. Sirius just stared at her, at a loss for words, and for a few seconds neither one of them said anything.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said quietly after a moment. He looked imploringly at her. "It's just…" he swallowed, and shook his head. "It's the way it has to be."

_Oh._

Emmeline pressed her lips together, willing herself not to cry. She looked up at him for a second, her blue eyes wide and unreadable, before turning around striding back toward the Great Hall without another word. Sirius didn't call after her, for which she was grateful – she wasn't sure if her heart could bear any more interaction with him right now.

As soon as she was through the doorway to the Great Hall, however, she stopped in her tracks. She stared at the hundreds of students around her, eating and chatting noisily, and felt oddly separated from them. She really didn't want to face her friends again – more than anything she wanted to be alone. She was briefly thankful she didn't have another exam that day, and thought maybe she could hole herself up in the library for a few hours and escape from the world…

But Sirius was probably still out there, and Emmeline knew she couldn't face him again. So she just stood there, gazing at her surroundings like a lost child.

"Hey," someone to her left said. It was Amal – he had been standing nearby, and he now walked up to her, looking concerned. Emmeline blinked up at him.

"Oh… hi Amal," she mumbled, and glanced away. She knew he was going to ask her what was wrong, and she fervently wished he would just go away.

Amal didn't ask her anything, however. To Emmeline's immense surprise, he simply took her by the arm and gently steered her back toward the entrance hall. "C'mon. We should move," he muttered, walking beside her. Emmeline didn't protest, and allowed herself to be directed by him out of the Great Hall. She was momentarily relieved he was taking control and that she didn't have to think about where they were going. She was also glad to see that Sirius wasn't in the entrance hall anymore.

"You alright?" Amal asked her as they walked together toward the Grand Staircase. His voice was gentle, and Emmeline was once again afraid she was going to burst into tears. She gulped.

"Yeah," she said, her voice quavering. They were walking along the first floor corridor when Amal suddenly stopped, finally letting go of her arm. He turned to her.

"Look, Emmeline…" he shook his head. "What Sirius said to you –"

Emmeline's heart jumped to her throat. "You heard all that?" she squeaked.

Amal nodded apologetically. "I'd figured you followed him out, but I didn't know why. But then again, I didn't realize he had asked Siobhan Burke to the Christmas party…" he looked dejected. "I'm so sorry, Em."

Emmeline didn't say anything, but could only stare down at her feet. She appreciated Amal's concern for her, but she really didn't want to talk to him now, especially about this.

"You know, I really do think Sirius fancies you," he went on encouragingly. Emmeline looked up at Amal, who was smiling slightly at her. Emmeline blinked a few times before shaking her head.

"Even if that were true, it doesn't matter," she said softly. "He asked out Siobhan and there's nothing I can do about it. I wasn't even planning on going to that party…"

"What? No!" Amal's eyes widened in surprise. "No, you have to go to the party! You have to show Sirius what he's missing!"

Emmeline couldn't help but grin, and she let out a reluctant giggle. "'Show Sirius what he's missing'? How exactly would I do that?"

Amal smiled widely, happy to see she had cheered up a little. "Well… I did have an idea."

Emmeline looked curious, and his smile widened.

"…So you remember when we danced to Magic Mayhem last year?"

* * *

**To be continued!**

**Next chapter: the Christmas party! **

**Reviews are lovely:)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Luise_Mau: **I'm so glad! I like to think Sirius does recognize love, but he's afraid of pursuing it because he doesn't feel he deserves it. That's just what I try to show – but anyway, hope you like this chapter:)

**glazedwater: **Thanks! I'm sorry it was sad for you, but hopefully this next chapter will be better:)

**iceandfire 105: **Thank you so much! You figure correctly:) Hope you like this next chapter!

* * *

**Friday**

**December 21****st**

**7:54 pm**

**Girl's Dormitory**

"I feel ridiculous," Emmeline stared dejectedly at her reflection in the full-size mirror beside her bed.

"Why?" Marlene looked shocked, also staring at her friend's reflection. "You look amazing!"

Emmeline was wearing the outfit Marlene had chosen for her – a fitted long-sleeved, burgundy-red dress that fell just short of her knees, and underneath, shimmery black tights. Cute black flats finished the look, and Emmeline had to admit that it was really quite pretty. It was just her hair that bothered her.

"I don't know about curls…" Emmeline frowned self-consciously, turning her head so she saw her blonde hair from other angles. "My hair feels so _big_."

"You'll get used to it," Marlene said assuredly. "The effects of the hair potion only lasts about twelve hours, so you won't have to deal with it too long."

"_Twelve_ hours?" Emmeline turned around to stare apprehensively at Marlene, who rolled her eyes.

"Oh, relax," She put her hand on Emmeline's shoulder and turned her so she was facing her. She smiled. "You really do look gorgeous, Em."

Emmeline gave a reluctant smile. "Thanks. So do you."

Marlene beamed. She was wearing a short-sleeved black lace dress, and her long, brunette hair was pinned up in a curly up-do. Emmeline really thought she looked beautiful.

"Are you going to be okay tonight?" Marlene's smile faded slightly as she gazed at her friend. "I know that Reggie's going to be there…"

Emmeline smiled sardonically: Reggie hadn't exactly been the boy occupying her thoughts lately. "I'll be fine. Our exams are over," she gave Marlene a reassuring smile. "It's time to have a little fun, right?"

Marlene smiled back. "I'm glad you think so. But just know we can always leave if you feel too uncomfortable."

"Of course," Emmeline nodded. Despite Marlene's concern, Emmeline was honestly beginning to feel more and more excited about this party. It was going to be her first social event ever where she went without a date, but for some reason, that fact didn't bother her. She was really looking forward to a fun night spending time only with her friends. She was going to dance Magic Mayhem with Amal (something the two of them decided to keep secret), have some food, drink a little butterbeer, and even possibly meet some new people. She decided this was something she really needed, especially after these long, laborious months of nonstop studying and schoolwork.

Ex-boyfriends and secret crushes notwithstanding, Emmeline was determined to have a good time.

"Alright, then," Marlene quickly checked herself in the full-size mirror before grabbing her purse and turning back to Emmeline, smiling excitedly.

"Let's go."

**Friday**

**December 21****st**

**8:18 pm**

**Slughorn's Christmas Party**

This party was definitely living up to all the hype, Sirius thought, rather impressed. Slughorn went all out, decorating his office with giant green and silver silk banners; the room was softly lit, with real live fairies floating around near the ceiling. Long tables covered in tiered food platters lined the walls, and a record player in the corner was playing some upbeat dance music. The spacious room was packed with all of Slughorn's favorite students – the boys donning their best dress robes, and the girls their prettiest dresses. Many of them were on the dance floor, but Sirius only stood off to the side, drinking his butterbeer and thinking he might actually have a good time tonight…

"This party sucks," Siobhan pouted from Sirius' left, her hand on her hip.

Sirius suppressed an eye-roll. Siobhan was looking remarkable in a sparkly silver halter dress, with her red hair hanging straight and shiny down her bare back. Despite how good she looked on the outside, however, she had done nothing but complain bitterly the entire time they were there. Sirius was almost at the point of casting a Silencing Charm on her.

"There isn't even anyone cool here," Siobhan gazed around the room, taking a lethargic sip of her gillywater. She scowled. "How is this supposed to be _fun_?"

"Well, I'm sure whining about it will help," Sirius muttered under his breath while taking a swig of butterbeer. Siobhan didn't hear him, however, as she had suddenly noticed someone walking in. She squealed excitedly, and Sirius blanched.

"Emmy!" Siobhan shoved her drink into Sirius's fumbling hand before hurrying toward the door. Sirius watched her leave with satisfaction, but he froze when he suddenly noticed Emmeline had arrived with Marlene, Remus, Lily, and Amal. Emmeline greeted Siobhan with a short hug and a tight smile, and they talked for a few seconds before Emmeline and Lily stepped away from the group, making their way through the crowd and gazing around at the festivities.

Sirius watched her as she went, his eyes wide – what was she even doing here? Didn't Marlene say she wasn't coming to the party? He and Emmeline had barely spoken since their conversation on Monday, and Sirius had been desperately trying to maintain his distance throughout the week.

His heart beat faster as he continued to stare at Emmeline – she looked beautiful. She was wearing a pretty red dress that colored her cheeks nicely, and her light blonde hair looked soft and curly as it fell around her shoulders. Sirius had never seen her hair curled before, but he liked it a lot – why did she never wear it like that?

He quickly pushed those thoughts out of his head: he was trying to avoid thinking about Emmeline, not gawk at her like an idiot.

"Hey Padfoot," Remus had walked up to him, looking less like his normal shabby self in his nice dress robes. Sirius grinned at his friend, grateful for the distraction.

"Hey Moony."

"Prongs decided to sit this one out, then?" Remus grabbed a butterbeer from a nearby table.

Sirius grimaced. "Yup. Just because Lily said no to him…" he shook his head. "It's not like he wasn't going to see her here anyway."

"Yeah," Remus shrugged. "But maybe he was just too embarrassed to face her after she rejected him." He took a sip of his drink.

"Maybe," Sirius muttered. He had noticed Emmeline and Lily approaching, and his heart jumped in his throat.

"Hey guys," Lily was grinning from ear to ear when the two of them stopped in front of them. "This party looks amazing, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Remus smiled, tactfully not bringing up James in front of her. "Did you guys see the fairies?"

"Yeah!" Emmeline giggled, and Sirius noted how happy she sounded. "Slughorn did an incredible job – this place looks _way _better than it did last year."

Remus and Marlene agreed, and the three of them began discussing the improvements that had been made since the previous Christmas party. Sirius couldn't bring himself to join in the discussion, however – the thought of Emmeline having been at the Christmas party last year made his stomach turn. He was at that party too, but he couldn't remember ever seeing her there – the fact that Emmeline had always been around, but went by completely unnoticed by him, made him feel very uncomfortable. Had he always been that cold toward her?

"Hey," Emmeline said quietly to Sirius, breaking him from his thoughts. He blinked and turned to look at her, his heart thumping.

"Hi," he said, surprised. He realized Lily and Remus were carrying on their conversation, and Emmeline had broken away to talk to Sirius alone. She was smiling up at him, and he couldn't help but smile back. She looked even prettier up close, and Sirius's heart skipped a beat.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry we haven't spoken much this week." Her smile faded slightly as she regarded him. "It was my fault, I know… I shouldn't have approached you about Siobhan. It was none of my business." She glanced down at her hands, looking regretful.

"No – it wasn't your fault, Em," Sirius insisted, shaking his head. "It was mine. I should have told you that… well…" he hesitated, going slightly red. "From the beginning, I…" he began to say, but stopped, frowning uncomfortably. He didn't know what he was trying to say to her, and Emmeline grimaced sympathetically.

"Yeah…" she mumbled, glancing down again. There was a short silence.

"So are you excited to be going home tomorrow?" She asked after a moment, and Sirius was grateful for the change in subject.

"Oh, yeah," he grinned. "I'm gonna be staying with James and his parents over Christmas. I stayed with them last year, and it was pretty good. It's a nice change, y'know…" he shrugged slightly, not wanting to go too much into his own family issues. Emmeline smiled kindly up at him.

"That's really great, Sirius," she said genuinely, and Sirius's heart thumped faster. "I'm actually going to be staying with Marlene and her family over break. I do every year…" Her smile brightened. "I love staying with them."

"Oh yeah?" Sirius smirked, taking a sip of butterbeer. He realized he enjoyed listening to her talk.

Emmeline's eyes were shining. "Yeah. Marlene's the oldest of seven kids, and Mrs. McKinnon just had another baby last month – a little boy named Liam. We're going to meet him for the first time tomorrow – Marlene's pretty excited about it."

"That's great," Sirius smiled sincerely. His full attention was on Emmeline as they talked, and he didn't notice someone approaching from the left. Siobhan suddenly cleared her throat.

"Mind if I cut in?" she scowled at Sirius, placing her hands on her hips. Sirius and Emmeline looked up.

"Hey Siobhan," Emmeline smiled at her. "We were just talking about what we're doing for Christmas."

"Hmph," Siobhan pursed her lips, still glowering at Sirius. Emmeline cleared her throat awkwardly, and Amal fortunately approached at that moment.

"Em!" he sounded excited, and he quickly grabbed her hand. "C'mon, it's about to start!"

Emmeline giggled, going red. "Oh my God, no! I can't!" She placed a hand on her flushed cheek.

"Yes – come _on_!" he began to pull her toward the dance floor, grinning widely. Emmeline grinned back at Sirius, who was regarding her with amusement, before allowing herself to be dragged by Amal toward the dance floor.

"Wonder what that's about," Sirius smiled, watching them leave. He then turned to look at Siobhan, who was still scowling at him. "Your face is going to freeze like that, y'know."

"Where have you been?" she snapped at him, crossing her arms. Sirius blinked and raised his eyebrows at her.

"Er… I dunno. Socializing?" he shrugged, frowning at her. "You're the one who walked away from me."

She rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "You know, if you're not going to even _try_ to spend time with me, why did you even invite me to this party?"

Sirius stared at her – had she expected him to follow her around all night? Something was seriously wrong with this girl. "You've been nothing but unpleasant to me all night, Siobhan." He glared at her, feeling indignant. "Why did you agree to go with me if you were just going to whine and complain the whole time? Why did you even come at all?"

Siobhan blinked at him for a moment, taken aback. "I…" she looked confused. "I thought… you…" she stammered, blinking rapidly. She quickly shook her head and scowled at him again. "You know what? Nevermind – I didn't even want to come here with you tonight. I'll see myself out."

And without another word she whipped around and stalked away toward the door. Sirius watched her leave, not at all sorry to see her go.

A familiar, upbeat tune started to play, and Sirius turned toward the dance floor. The crowd of students all began to whoop and cheer excitedly, converging together as the beat to Magic Mayhem filled the room.

…_All night  
__Oh, all night!  
__It's Magic–  
__It's Mayhem!_

The song began to build, and the crowd was singing and dancing along; suddenly, Remus and Marlene appeared at Sirius's side, looking ecstatic:

"Oh my God, I think they're going to do it! They're actually gonna do it!" Marlene squealed excitedly, and Remus laughed. Sirius stared at them, smiling despite himself.

"What are you talking about?" he glanced between them. Marlene giggled before turning and racing through the crowd; Remus grabbed Sirius's arm and followed her.

…_Oh-h Magic  
__It's here tonight!  
__We'll dance this Mayhem  
__We'll do it right!_

Sirius realized the crowd was standing in a ring around the dance floor, jumping and dancing to the up-tempo beat. Two people were in the middle of the ring of students, and Sirius's mouth dropped open when he realized that they were Amal and Emmeline.

They were dancing together – and they were amazing. Amal was an impressive dancer in his own right, and Emmeline was keeping up with him surprisingly well. Their feet moved together quickly and in perfect synchronization: Amal then began to improvise some impressive moves, causing the crowd to swoon. Emmeline stopped dancing, smiling and watching him with her hands on her hips; Amal then rushed forward, grabbing her wrist and twirling her around before dipping her to the floor. The students cheered excitedly as he quickly pulled her back up again and they immediately began to dance again.

"You go, Em!" Marlene shrieked from Sirius's left, jumping along with the crowd.

"This is better than they did last year!" Remus shouted over the noise, grinning and cheering as well.

Sirius, who had been smiling at the entire scene, suddenly felt a bit odd. His smile faded slightly – Emmeline had done this last year too? And he still hadn't remembered her…

The song – and the dance – had finally ended, and the crowd went completely berserk, cheering and yelling excitedly while converging on both Emmeline and Amal. The two of them stood side-by-side, panting from the exertion, yet grinning happily at all the people swarming around them. Sirius simply stood off to the side and watched several guys move forward eagerly and try to be the first to talk to Emmeline, whose face looked flushed and pretty. She smiled at all of them, but after a moment, gently detached herself from them and turned to look at someone else. Sirius realized with an unpleasant jolt that it was Reggie.

He watched as the two of them began to talk – he couldn't hear what they were saying, but Reggie was smiling gently down at her, and Emmeline was looking down at her hands, her expression unreadable...

Sirius scowled, and suddenly he couldn't take it anymore – he wheeled around and walked straight for the door, deciding to leave for the night. It had been a crappy evening, and he had no wish to make it any longer than it had to be.

As he walked back to Gryffindor Tower, Sirius realized that Emmeline had everything tonight – the party, the dance, the pretty dress. She captured the attention of the whole room, and she seemed to shine brighter than ever because of it. No wonder everybody cheered for her. No wonder they all loved her. No wonder all the guys noticed her…

Sirius felt sick, because he realized now more than ever that Emmeline was way too good for him. Who was he? Just a guy who, before this year, didn't even know she existed...

Maybe it was time for him to throw in the towel. For him to finally step away from these strange, new feelings that had been plaguing him nonstop for the past few months...

Maybe now it was time to finally say goodbye.

* * *

**Magic Mayhem isn't a copyright. It isn't even a real song - it's basically just any song that makes you want to get up and dance:)**

**Anyway, hope you liked this chapter! The new one should be up soon - but in the meantime, review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**glazedwater: **I know. Cliffhangers, right? Lol hope you like this next chapter though!

**iceandfire 105: **Aw thank you! Just hang in there… here's the new chapter for you;)

* * *

**Saturday**

**December 22****nd**

**8:32 am**

**Boys Dormitory**

It was the next morning, and the entire school was more than ready to leave for Christmas vacation. Sirius and the other Gryffindor boys were up earlier than usual this sunny Saturday, packing their trunks with all their scattered possessions last minute, occasionally interrupting their work with good-humored skirmishes over the different items they found. Sirius laughed and joked around with James, who was throwing sweatshirts at Peter's head, and tried to ignore his sadness and resignation over what he knew he was about to do later that morning.

He had finally decided last night to let go of his feelings for Emmeline. That awful notion weighed down on his heart like a millstone, but he knew that it was for the best. Emmeline had always had her own life with her own friends and her own loved ones – Sirius knew he would probably just screw her up if he were to try to get more involved. Emmeline was such a sweet, kind, amazing, smart, and loving person… she could do much better than the likes of him.

The image of Reggie talking to Emmeline last night flashed across Sirius's mind, but he quickly pushed it aside. He didn't want to think about that, not now…

As he packed his things, Sirius glanced at the small wrapped parcel shoved in the corner of his trunk. He was careful to hide this particular item from the guys, worried that one of them would try to steal it for a laugh – they just didn't understand. Sirius was going to say goodbye to Emmeline, and since it was nearly Christmas, he figured a gift for her wouldn't go amiss. He had gotten it for her a couple weeks ago on a whim, and figured that it would at least make her smile a little before they went their separate ways.

With a heavy heart, Sirius picked up the gift and placed it in his bag; he closed the lid to his trunk, and readied himself to say goodbye to the only girl he had ever truly cared about. The thought of what he was about to do hurt him on a level he couldn't quite explain, but what else was he to do?

The four Marauders finished up packing, and together, went down to the entrance hall to leave for break.

* * *

**Saturday**

**December 22****nd**

**10:32 am**

**Entrance Hall**

Emmeline, Marlene, and Amal were among the huge crowd of students, their trunks packed and ready to go. As they waited for the carriages to take them and their things to Hogsmeade Station, the three of them began to discuss the events that had occurred last night after the party:

"I have half a mind not to let you dance anymore," Marlene was scowling grumpily at her boyfriend, and Amal rolled his eyes, looking mildly amused.

"It was just some random girl, Marlene. And she wasn't even that good-looking," he said, shaking his head. "Honestly, it meant nothing."

"But she tried to kiss you!" Marlene snapped. "It was right after Magic Mayhem, and she was all over you! How else am I supposed to react?"

"Well, I didn't kiss her back," Amal said defensively. "You were standing right there – you saw it too."

"I know that. I'm not mad at _you_," Marlene frowned at him before starting to gaze determinedly around the crowd of students surrounding them. "D'you think that slag is around here somewhere? I want a few words with her…"

"Marlene!" Emmeline and Amal both laughed in surprise. Marlene tried to continue looking upset, but a small grin betrayed her. She then turned to Emmeline.

"Speaking of unwanted romantic connections…" she smirked, shaking her head. "I noticed Reggie was talking to you after the dance, Em."

Emmeline's smile faded. "Oh. Yeah, he was."

"What did he want?" Amal asked her, sobering. Emmeline shrugged slightly.

"Just wanted to know what I've been up to. How I've been…" she muttered evasively. "He said he liked our dance."

"Of course he did," Marlene rolled her eyes. "You and Amal were the life of the party because of it – he only cared about all the attention you were getting, that's all."

"I know," Emmeline grimaced. And she did know it – Reggie hadn't spoken a word to her since they broke up, and she knew that he had only approached her after the dance because she was getting more attention from the other students. She was popular… and that was the only thing about her that Reggie cared about now.

Emmeline had wondered briefly if Reggie wanted her back. After reflecting on it a bit last night after the party, she realized that it didn't matter – she didn't want him back. If he decided that he wanted to give their relationship another shot, she would say no – he already had his chance to make things right between them, but he had chosen his popularity and social status over her. He had broken her heart, and it took weeks for her finally realize that she didn't need a guy like Reggie in her life anymore. They had been drifting apart for a long time, and she eventually had to realize that she no longer needed him.

Emmeline smiled slightly to herself – she knew she probably wouldn't have had this realization if Sirius had not recently become a part of her life. Emmeline had gained a whole new perspective on life and relationships because of him: through his friendship with her, Emmeline had learned how to stand up for herself, and how to be more confident and assertive toward dumb ex-boyfriends wanting to reconnect with her. She was not as naïve as she had always used to be. Sirius also constantly joked around with her and made her laugh, allowing her to discover her more fun and carefree side. Emmeline hardly realized till now how important an influence Sirius had been on her in these last few months, and she wondered idly why she had not seen him since the party last night…

"Emmeline."

Emmeline's heart jumped a little before she turned at the sound of her name. Sirius was standing before her, the crowds of people with their luggage moving this way and that around him. He was holding a bag in his hand and smiling apprehensively at her, and Emmeline's heart began to thump loudly.

"Sirius," she said, surprised.

Sirius glanced over at Amal, Marlene and Lily, who were all looking at the two of them. "Can we go somewhere for a minute? I want to talk to you."

Emmeline could only nod, and, leaving her trunk, began to follow him through the crowd. She glanced briefly back at her friends, who were watching beadily.

They wound their way across the entrance hall and found an empty room in a corridor near the staircase. Sirius held the door open for her, and Emmeline felt herself blushing as she walked in before him.

Sirius closed the door, and Emmeline tried to ignore her pounding heartbeat when she asked, as casually as she could, "So what's up? I figured you and the other guys had already left."

"We were about to," he said, setting his bag on top of a nearby desk. He paused a moment, pressing his lips together. "I, er… wanted to give you your Christmas present before we left, though."

Emmeline's blush deepened, and her heart thumped erratically. Sirius had gotten her a Christmas present? She stammered that he didn't have to do that, but he just smiled in that way that made her understand why all the ladies of Hogwarts fancied him.

"Just open it," he reached into the bag and pulled out a small rectangular parcel, his smile now replaced with an oddly apprehensive look. He held it out to her, and Emmeline, cheeks red, walked over and took it from him. With fumbling fingers, she carefully peeled off a section of the wrapping paper and glimpsed a faded cover of something.

Emmeline tore the rest of the paper off: it was a book. She noticed it was very ancient, the cover spelling out in faded letters _An Unabridged History of House Greengrass_. The family seal was stamped underneath with the coat of arms _Nusquam pugnant a dormiens pullum_. Unable to speak, she turned to the first page.

"It's your family history," Sirius explained, sounding slightly apprehensive. "Or rather, your mum's family history. You said she was a Greengrass, right?"

Emmeline could only nod as she continued to stare at the contents of the book.

"You told me that you didn't know much about her family," Sirius went on. "So I started doing a little research. I eventually had to write to my uncle, who apparently has all these old pureblood family histories in his library. I asked him for this one – it goes all the way back to medieval times, and it's real accurate too 'cause it includes all the Muggles and half-bloods most wizarding families tend to ignore."

Emmeline still hadn't said anything as she continued to stare at the ancient book. Something was raging around inside her heart that she couldn't quite explain, and her eyes began to sting with unshed tears.

"Emmeline?" Sirius frowned slightly, nervously waiting for her reaction. "What do you think?"

Emmeline shut the book and clutched it to her chest, eyes still brimming with tears. The torrent of emotion she felt began to fill her entire body, and it was only with half an idea of what she was doing when she suddenly moved forward and kissed Sirius right on the lips.

Sirius was clearly shocked by this, but it only took a moment for him to respond – he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her as closely as he could with the book between them. All of Emmeline's feelings for Sirius seemed to burst through like a dam – she moved her hand up to touch his face, fingers grazing his jawline, before slowly trailing down his neck and settling on his collarbone. Sirius opened his mouth to deepen the kiss, sliding one hand up to run through her hair. Emmeline felt she could die of happiness, right then and there.

After a wonderful eternity, however, they broke apart. And reality began to crash down on Emmeline like a ton of bricks.

"Oh my God…" she whispered, stepping away. She put her hand to her mouth, and dimly realized there were tears on her face. "Sirius, I – I'm so sorry…"

"Emmeline," Sirius said quietly, his eyes wide.

"I shouldn't have done that to you," She tried wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. "That was… it was completely inappropriate I – I don't know what came over me…"

"Em…"

"I know you really like Siobhan. I'm so sorry," Emmeline felt humiliation grip her stomach, and she wanted nothing more than to get out of there. "It'll never happen again, I swear…"

Before Sirius could say anything else, Emmeline had pushed past him and hurried out the door, too embarrassed to look back.

It was several seconds after she had gone when Sirius had regained enough of his senses to allow a large smile to spread unchecked across his face.

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**Hope you guys liked this one ;) Please review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Coronae Borealis: **Yes indeed!:D Hold your horses – here's the next chapter for you!

**glazedwater: **I'M GLAD!:)

**UnrulyDreamer: **Thank you! Yeah, it was my intention to string you guys along for a chapter or two… hope you're not too mad:) lol hope you like this next chapter as well!

**iceandfire 105: **Your enthusiasm makes me smile:) Lol here's the next chapter for you – hope you like it!

* * *

**Sunday**

**December 30****th**

**3:46 pm**

**Potter's Home**

Over a week had passed, and Sirius had no idea what to do.

Before, he had been looking forward to staying with James and his parents over Christmas break – the Potter's house had practically become home to him since he was no longer welcome at Grimmauld Place. And since he was resolved to forget about Emmeline, he had actually been anticipating the visit more than usual: he knew he needed a few weeks away from her and her influence over him. He was just going to lie low for a couple weeks in the hope that his feelings would subside…

However, that plan got turned on its head the moment Emmeline had kissed him.

He was completely floored. Emmeline Vance had _kissed_ him! Sirius doubted any girl he knew had ever kissed him like that – it was just so completely unexpected. But Emmeline had backed off as soon as she realized what she had done, and Sirius didn't stop her – his mind was a raging whirlwind of scattered thoughts and blissful oblivion at the time, and he couldn't think straight. By the time he was able to regain control of his limbs and follow her, though, she and her friends were nowhere to be seen. People had started making their way toward the carriages, and Sirius figured Emmeline had hidden herself within the crowd of students swarming around the place in a desperate bid to escape her embarrassment.

Sirius had considered tracking her down on the train, but decided not to – what would he say to her? He could tell her the truth: that he really liked her, but he didn't think he was good enough for her, so he was giving her the book as a sort of "break-up" present. But did he really want to say goodbye now? Those few seconds when she was kissing him were incredible – he had allowed himself to believe, for a few wonderful moments, that Emmeline was really his, and she felt the same way about him as he did about her. Never in his whole life had he felt happier, or more hopeful about their future together…

As soon as they separated, however, Emmeline had run off, and the spell was broken. She seemed very upset. Did she regret kissing him? It certainly seemed like she did – but then why did she kiss him in the first place? It couldn't have come from nowhere. Perhaps she was just thankful for the gift and, in a moment of poorly-restrained emotion, planted one on him? But the _way _she kissed him… it was more than just a friendly thank-you. Wasn't it? She _wanted_ to kiss him. But, again, why did she run away after…?

Sirius's conflicted thoughts had been tormenting him for over a week, sometimes making him hopeful, and other times making him inconsolably depressed. The Potters could hardly fail to notice Sirius's odd erratic behavior, and James eventually had to point out the obvious to him as they lounged around together in the kitchen on the Sunday after Christmas:

"You've been acting really weird lately," James said mulishly, sitting down next to Sirius at his family's scrubbed wooden table.

Sirius, who was in a more depressed state today, was sitting and gazing listlessly down into the cup of tea Mrs. Potter had made for him. He looked up. "What?"

James frowned. "You. You haven't been acting like yourself – c'mon, it's Christmas! We're on break! Why are you sulking?"

"I'm not sulking," Sirius murmured, gazing back down at his tea. "I'm just… not feeling well."

"I've seen you ill before, mate," James looked skeptical, and he shook his head. "Seriously, what's wrong?"

Sirius said nothing.

"…Y'know, my mum and I were talking about you earlier today," James went on casually, gazing down at his own cup of tea. "She reckons it's a girl that's making you so upset."

Sirius glanced up at James, feeling suddenly nervous. "A girl?" James nodded, and Sirius swallowed. "And you believe her?"

James shrugged, his expression unreadable. "Maybe. She's usually right about this sort of stuff though…"

Sirius didn't say anything for a moment, staring down into his cup of tea. Did he really want to talk to James about this? They were best friends – there was no way James would make him ashamed about his feelings. And perhaps James could give Sirius some insight as to what he should do…

"It's stupid," Sirius shook his head bemusedly before bringing his elbows up on the table and covering his face with his hands. James regarded him steadily.

"Who is she?" he asked after a moment, lifting his mug to his lips. Sirius had the impression he was trying to hide a smirk.

Sirius brought his hands away from his face and stared glumly down at the table. "Emmeline."

CLUNK

"_I knew it!_" James had suddenly slammed his mug down to the table, sloshing tea everywhere. He grinned triumphantly and jabbed a finger at Sirius. "I _knew _you liked her! It's about bloody time, mate!"

Sirius glowered at him, and James's demeanor quieted. He brought his hand down and cleared his throat. "Er… sorry."

"She kissed me," Sirius went on, looking back down at his hands, and James gaped at him.

"What?" he asked after a moment, stunned. "When was this?"

Taking a deep breath, Sirius began to explain the entire situation to him. James listened attentively as Sirius recounted his escalating feelings for Emmeline, then his resolve to try to forget about her, his gift, and her kissing him right after. James frowned once he had finished.

"So it wasn't just a quick peck on the lips?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows, shaking his head. "No, it most definitely was not."

James pouted. "Not fair. When I got Lily a new Potions kit for Christmas last year, she just paid me back the money I spent on it."

Sirius couldn't help but grin sardonically. "Sorry, mate."

James shook his head, attempting to redirect the conversation. "But what I don't understand is why you were trying to say goodbye to Emmeline. You don't actually want a relationship with her, then?"

Sirius's mouth went dry as something in his heart clenched. "I dunno, I…" he muttered evasively, shrugging. He glanced down. "I guess not. I'd figured she'd be better off without me, and the fact that she kissed me doesn't really change much…" he sighed, unable to look anywhere but the cup of tea in his hands. "She would just end up hurt, and both of us would be miserable… it's probably for the best."

James stared at Sirius for a moment, his expression critical: "You're scared, aren't you?"

Sirius blinked and looked up at him in surprise. "Scared? Of what?"

"Of a relationship," James said. "Of your feelings for Emmeline. Look, mate, in all the years that I've known you, I've never seen you this messed up about a girl. You're obviously crazy about her – the fact that you're scared about committing to her is normal. But giving up on any chance of being with her isn't the answer."

Sirius was slightly taken aback. How did James know all this? He frowned. "Then what is the answer?"

James shook his head. "I don't know – you're gonna have to figure it out for yourself. The fact that you've been moping around here for a week and a half tells me that you don't actually want to let her go, though."

Sirius didn't say anything. No, he really didn't want to let her go.

"But if I did go after her…" Sirius said after a moment. He hesitated before plunging recklessly on: "How do I know if she even likes me like that? And if she does, what if we aren't good for each other, and we're both really miserable? She and Reggie were together for a long time – how can I even compete with that? How do I know if I can even make her happy? We're not that alike, and she'd probably expect certain things from me – like, relationship-y things. How do I know if I can do that for her? How do I know if we can make it at all…?"

"Those are risks you're gonna have to take, Sirius," James interrupted him, sounding firm. "They're questions everybody has before getting into a relationship, but whether or not you're going to take that leap is your own decision."

Sirius didn't say anything. He remembered Emmeline's own words to him a few months ago: _When it's love, it is easy –– pursuing the actual relationship is what's difficult_. Could that be why he had tried to say goodbye to Emmeline? He had known the extent of his feelings for her, and therefore, was afraid of pursuing an actual relationship? That would definitely explain why he had been feeling so odd for the last few months.

James suddenly grinned at him: "You know, if it helps at all, I think Emmeline's pretty crazy about you too."

Sirius turned and looked at his friend with amusement. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Immensely," James said lightly, getting up from the table. "You've had to put up with all my crap about Lily over the years, and now I'm finally able to reciprocate."

"Too right," Sirius quipped, and James rolled his eyes, grabbing both of their mugs and heading toward the kitchen.

"Prongs?" Sirius called after him, and James turned around. Sirius pressed his lips together. "Thanks."

"No problem, mate," James smirked as he placed their mugs in the sink, turning the faucet on. "So d'you know what you're gonna do now?"

Sirius did know – for the first time in weeks, his mind was focused and alert, allowing him to clearly see what needed to be done. There was still two weeks of vacation left before they all went back to Hogwarts – Sirius suddenly stood up from the table.

"What are you doing?" James asked as Sirius strode purposefully toward the stairs leading to James' room.

"I have a letter to write," Sirius said with determination, and after a moment, he was gone.

* * *

**Sunday**

**January 13****th**

**9:34 am**

**McKinnon's Home**

The day of departure to Kings Cross Station had finally arrived, and everybody at the McKinnon household was in a high flutter. The entire family was running around the house frantically, trying to get everything packed and ready for the kids' trip to the train station. Marlene and Emmeline had been dashing around all morning as well, retrieving their scattered possessions while deflecting conversation with Marlene's younger siblings:

"_No_, Carrick, we can't take your Poisonous Lethe Frogs with us to school," Marlene said exasperatedly to the six-year-old. Marlene and Emmeline were in her room, trying to finish packing, and her brother was trying to hand over a large container of what looked like lumpy brown mushroom caps. "Go help Mum pack up Lorelai's things."

Carrick, pouting adorably, turned and ran out of the room, still clutching his frogs. Marlene glanced over at Emmeline, and they both giggled.

"Man, I can't _wait_ till we get back," Marlene shook her head, turning back to her suitcase.

Emmeline didn't say anything; her smile faded slightly as she went back to her own suitcase. She hadn't said anything to Marlene yet, but she was dreading facing Sirius again after what happened between them. Over Christmas break, Emmeline could pretend like the kiss had never happened, but she couldn't do that anymore: now, she had to go back and see the boy whom she had forcibly kissed in a sudden burst of passionate emotion…

Emmeline had never kissed anyone like that before, and during those few seconds when their lips met, it was pure magic; she blushed now just thinking about it. She quickly continued to pack her things.

"Marlene, Mum said you guys need to hurry up." Clara, Marlene's ten-year-old sister walked into the room. "We're gonna leave in like five minutes."

"Alright, we're coming," Marlene said breathlessly, trying fruitlessly to close her overstuffed suitcase. Clara rolled her eyes at her before turning to Emmeline.

"An owl came for you," she said, handing Emmeline a letter. Emmeline took it, frowning slightly.

"Oh. Er, thanks Clara."

Clara nodded and left the room without another word. Emmeline frowned at the letter, wondering who on earth was writing to her today of all days.

She opened it just as Marlene left the room, dragging her suitcase behind her. Emmeline glanced over the letter, and immediately saw who it was from: Sirius Black.

Emmeline went pale, and her eyes widened – Sirius had written to her? Today? Why? There could only have been one reason, and it made Emmeline's heart jump in her throat, pounding erratically as nervousness and embarrassment swirled around in her brain, dominating her thoughts...

Not knowing what to expect, she took a deep, shaky breath, and began to read the letter.

* * *

**Hope you guys liked this chapter! Please review:)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Luise_Mau: **I'm sorry, please forgive me:( But you'll soon find out, so don't despair too long! Here's the next chapter for you:)

**glazedwater: **I just can't seem to quit them, can I?:) Lol hope you like this chapter!

**iceandfire 105: **Of course he's concerned – wouldn't you be?:) I want to show how important it is to Sirius that Emmeline is happy, and that he doesn't know how to go about doing it because he's never done it before. That's just what I thought… but anyway, I hope you enjoy this new chapter!

**Sunday **

**January 13****th**

**5:50 pm**

* * *

Marlene, Emmeline, and Lily were walking together toward Gryffindor Tower with all their luggage, chatting about their respective Christmas vacations before they went down to the feast:

"Remember when my cousin Michael made the pumpkin tart dance around like that?" Marlene asked, laughing.

"That was really funny," Emmeline couldn't help but grin, remembering Christmas day with all the McKinnon's.

"Oh! But remember my Aunt Mirabelle with that decorated Cornish pixie?" Marlene asked excitedly, and the two of them broke into fit of giggles at the memory.

"Well, at least you two didn't have to spend Christmas with my sister," Lily said grumpily. "I told my whole family I got a near-perfect score on all my exams, and Petunia could do nothing but sneer at me all break for not finding a boyfriend yet."

The other two laughed. "You should get a move on, you know," Marlene said knowledgeably as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "I think James might have a little thing for you."

Emmeline laughed as Lily rolled her eyes, her face red.

"Gillyflower," she said, and the portrait swung open to admit them.

"It's so weird being back," Emmeline panted as she lugged her trunk through the portrait hole. "I feel like we've been gone for so long."

"Are you kidding? That month completely flew by," Marlene came in next with her luggage. "What break did _you_ have?"

"Hi guys!" someone beside them spoke up, and Siobhan Burke's beautiful smiling face appeared from the girl's dormitory. "How was your holiday?"

"Great, Siobhan," Emmeline answered for the group. "How was yours?"

"Omigod, _so _boring," Siobhan huffed, looking pouty. "My family is so dull. I'm _really_ glad to back though."

"Hi Evans."

The girls turned to see James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all walking into the common room from the boys dormitory. Emmeline blinked and glanced down at her hands, trying to avoid eye contact with Sirius.

James was grinning widely at Lily, who scowled at him. "You're still here, are you?" Lily crossed her arms while glowering at him. "Thought you'd have gotten expelled over Christmas."

"You 'thought' or you 'hoped'?" James raised an eyebrow at her, and Lily frowned.

"Hi Marlene – hi Emmeline," Remus turned to the other two girls. "Good holiday?"

"It was great," Marlene grinned. "Em stayed with me at my parents' house. We had _so_ much fun," The two girls started to giggle again.

"Really?" Sirius had a mischievous grin on his face. "Mind if I come over next Christmas?"

Marlene and Lily laughed as James punched him on the arm. Sirius had his eyes on Emmeline, however, and Emmeline finally looked right at him. She blushed, and looked away.

The others then began to exchange stories about their respective holidays, and Sirius slowly broke away from the group to stand over by the fire. He glanced over his shoulder at Emmeline, who looked at him again, and subtly indicated she follow him. Emmeline, heart pounding anxiously, glanced around at the others before shuffling over to him.

He was standing and staring into the fire, his hands in his pockets, as Emmeline walked up beside him. Feeling uncomfortable, she hugged herself and gazed into the hearth as well.

"Hi," she muttered, not looking up. Sirius glanced at her.

"Hey," he smiled slightly. There was a short pause.

"Did you get my letter?" he asked after a moment, lightly kicking a burning ember back into the fire. Emmeline finally looked over at him.

"Yeah. This morning," she muttered, and Sirius looked at her, slightly surprised.

"This morning? But I sent it two weeks ago," he said, frowning in confusion. Emmeline blinked – that was a bit odd, but it was something she couldn't bring herself to dwell on too long.

"Oh," she cleared her throat, thinking about what he had written. "So… you, er… you think we need to talk?"

Sirius nodded before glancing awkwardly down at his feet. "Er, yeah. I mean… only if you want to talk. You don't have to – I mean, I don't want to force you to do something you're uncomfortable with…"

"No," Emmeline said quickly, and blushed crimson. "No, you're right… I, er, think we do need to talk about… er… about what happened."

Could this get any more uncomfortable? Emmeline's face was burning flames, she was so embarrassed. Sirius pressed his lips together before glancing down at his feet.

"Yeah, I figured as much." There was a short pause, and the seconds ticked on for millennia.

Emmeline finally broke the unbearable silence: "So, er… did you want to talk now?" She secretly hoped he didn't, and thankfully, he shook his head.

"No, we probably shouldn't. There's the feast…" he trailed off and glanced over at their friends, Emmeline looked over too: Remus, Peter, and Lily were still talking with one another, but Marlene and James were looking over at Sirius and Emmeline with interest. Siobhan, meanwhile, was standing off to the side, staring haughtily at them out of the corner of her eye.

"Er… how 'bout we meet here later tonight?" Sirius quickly turned back to Emmeline, looking slightly embarrassed. "After everyone goes to bed?"

"Sure," Emmeline quickly nodded, glad he had suggested a time when the others weren't going to be hanging around. Plus, it gave her a few hours to pull herself together a bit.

Sirius nodded and smiled with some relief. "Cool," he said quietly, and his smile faded as he looked at her. Emmeline stared back at him, and, in a moment, she felt as if electricity was lighting up her entire body, causing her heart to beat faster and her mind to go fuzzy. She stared into Sirius's eyes, and once again the urge to kiss him overpowered her; consumed her. The look on Sirius's face told her he was thinking the same thing, and Emmeline felt her heart swell with some powerful emotion. They continued to gaze at each other as Sirius opened his mouth to say something…

"Hey," Marlene suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and she looked at Emmeline. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Sirius answered for them both, blinking and turning to grin easily at Marlene. Emmeline blinked several times, trying to regain her senses. "I was just telling Emmeline what an amazing dancer she is."

"She is amazing, isn't she?" Marlene smiled proudly at her best friend, and Emmeline smiled weakly back. Marlene grabbed her wrist, "C'mon, it's time to go to the feast."

"Okay," Emmeline said quietly, allowing herself to be dragged away. She glanced back at Sirius, who was looking at her – he mouthed the word 'later' to her, his gaze earnest, and Emmeline flushed. She nodded at him before turning back toward Marlene and the others.

She wondered if the few hours between now and 'later' would be enough. She really hoped they would be, because right now she wasn't so sure.

* * *

**Sunday**

**January 13****th**

**11:45 pm**

**Girl's Dormitory**

Emmeline sat perched on the edge of her bed, glancing at the clock and feeling anxious. Marlene and the other girls had all gone to bed, but Emmeline was still wide awake, nervously anticipating what she was about to do. She had pretended to get ready for bed too so Marlene and the others wouldn't get suspicious: she had put on her pajamas (an old t-shirt and purple flannel pants), while her blonde hair was tied back in a comfortable bun. She was even wearing her old black-frame glasses – Emmeline knew she didn't exactly look attractive, but she hardly cared. She had embarrassed herself enough in front of Sirius, and she figured looking like a slob wasn't going to faze him much.

She swallowed – was Sirius downstairs yet? Possibly, but Emmeline didn't want to move from her bed quite yet. She thought about what had transpired the last time she and Sirius were alone together, and what her brain couldn't help dwelling on for the past month – their kiss.

Emmeline's anxiously beating heart sped up… they had kissed, and now Sirius wanted to talk to her about it. Her eyes instinctively went to her bedside table, where the book he had given her for Christmas lay in front of her desk lamp. Beside the book sat a small, navy blue box.

Her gaze lingered on the box, wondering if a belated Christmas gift for Sirius was a good idea. She still felt profoundly embarrassed about kissing him last month, but at least now she could redeem herself in his eyes, at least a little. It definitely seemed as if Sirius wasn't angry at her for forcing herself on him, which Emmeline was grateful for. But why did he now insist on talking to her about it?

Emmeline sighed to herself – she and Sirius had been through a lot together. She hadn't really thought of it before, but it was true – emotionally, at least. In the span of four months, they had met, shared their experiences, talked about love, life, and friendships; they even bonded over her break-up with Reggie in the middle of the night.

So much had happened with them, and Emmeline knew beyond a doubt that she liked Sirius more than she had ever liked a guy before in her life. And it was more than just his charm and his good looks – it was his heart and his passion, his kindness and his selflessness. It was how much he really seemed to care about Emmeline...

Emmeline flushed, smiling to herself. Sirius really did care about her, didn't he?

Marlene let out a quiet snore, causing Emmeline to break out of her reverie. She finally got to her feet and grabbed the box from her cabinet. It was now or never.

She quietly made her way across the dormitory and silently padded down the stairs toward the common room. She peeked around the doorway, seeing no one at first. After a moment, however, she noticed Sirius leaning against the back of a chair by a window, his arms folded across his chest. He was gazing down at his feet, looking extremely on-edge as he shifted from one foot to the other.

Emmeline stepped into the common room, still not saying anything. She just watched him: he nervously ran a hand through his hair, glancing at his watch, before getting up to pace the floor a little. He had taken a few steps before he finally looked up and noticed Emmeline standing there, in the doorway of the girl's dormitory.

Sirius froze, staring at her. Emmeline blushed as she looked back at him. There was a short silence.

"Hi," he said quietly after a moment, his eyes wide. Emmeline, feeling braver, took another step into the room.

"Hey," she mumbled, clutching the small box in her hands. There was another short pause.

"You're here," Sirius said, sounding surprised and relieved. Emmeline smiled slightly at him.

"Of course I'm here," she said quietly, going red. Sirius grinned, and looked as if he wanted to say something to her, but Emmeline quickly stopped him:

"Look, Sirius – before you say anything…" she moved forward until she stood in front of him. He blinked at her, surprised. "I just wanted to say sorry again, and, er…" she hesitated, biting her lip, before handing him the box. "…Happy Christmas."

Sirius said nothing, looking at Emmeline for a moment before gazing down at the box. He slowly reached out and took it from her, gazing at it with some unreadable expression on his face. Emmeline watched anxiously as he took off the lid with slow and careful deliberation:

Out of the box jumped a small, origami dog made of black paper. Emmeline had made this little magical craft for herself a couple months ago (something she would never admit to anyone, not even Marlene), but had decided over break to give it to Sirius as a gift. Why not, right?

The dog leapt lightly onto Sirius's hand, and the two of them watched as it bounded up his arm before settling down on his shoulder, licking its tiny paw and wagging its papery tail.

Sirius beamed at it, and Emmeline's heart glowed. He hadn't said anything yet, but that one look said it all.

Sirius brought his other hand up to his shoulder, still grinning, and the tiny paper hound leapt onto his palm. Sirius brought it down gently and carefully set it back into to the box. He turned and placed the box onto a nearby table, still not saying a word.

Emmeline, taking the hint, began to speak: "Look, Sirius, I…"

She was unable to finish that thought, however, as Sirius had suddenly moved forward and kissed her, silencing any apology she had in its tracks.

* * *

**Stay tuned! Next chapter should be up soon. Until then, though - Review!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Luise_Mau: **I have to agree:) Also, I insinuated in the previous chapter that Sirius just wrote to Emmeline to ask if they could talk about what happened.

**iceandfire 105: **Well I'm happy that you're happy:) Enjoy this next chapter!

**glazedwater: **'"Far from excellent"? I hope that was a compliment;) Lol hope you like this next chapter!

**aniemoses: **I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it! Here's the next chapter for you:)

**Monday**

**January 14****th**

**12:01 am**

**Gryffindor Common Room**

* * *

Emmeline, taking the hint, began to speak: "Look, Sirius, I…"

She was unable to finish that thought, however, as Sirius had suddenly moved forward and kissed her, silencing any apology she had in its tracks.

Emmeline froze, shocked for a moment, before responding to him, her eyes fluttering closed. Wonder and confusion and excitement filled her heart as she kissed him back, and her mind swirled with thoughts about what this meant.

_Can this really be happening?_

After several blissful moments, Sirius broke the kiss, pressing his forehead to hers in order to maintain their closeness. Emmeline exhaled, a little breathless, and she blinked a couple times, trying to register dimly what just happened. Was he trying to tell her something?

"Sirius," she breathed, beseeching him.

"Emmeline, I don't want to be with Siobhan."

* * *

Marlene blearily blinked her eyes open, dimly registering it was till dark out. Her throat felt very dry, and she reached blindly for the divide in her four-poster's curtains. She yanked them open before sitting upright, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and groping in the dark for the goblet of water sitting on her bedside table.

She found it, and she took a grateful gulp, wiping her mouth as she glanced around the dark dormitory. The curtains on the four-posters that held the other sixth-year girls were all closed, and the soft breathing and snoring issuing from them indicated they were all asleep. Marlene then glanced over at Emmeline's bed, and her heart stopped:

The curtains were open. And the bed was empty.

"Not again," She whispered in a panic, jumping to her feet.

* * *

Emmeline pulled back to stare up into Sirius's face. She saw a sort of longing there that she'd never seen in him before, and she blinked again.

"What?" she asked quietly, though she was quite sure she heard correctly.

He shook his head. "I never wanted to be with Siobhan," he hesitated, looking earnest. "There's been someone else."

Emmeline looked back at him, hardly believing what she was hearing. "Really?"

He smiled nervously, and Emmeline felt the beginnings of hope burgeon in her heart. "Yes. She's amazing, and beautiful, and smart…" His eyes burned with sincerity. "And I haven't been able to stop thinking about her."

Emmeline's heart was beating painfully hard as he said these impossible words. She could only stare at him.

"I'm sorry I never said anything," Sirius's smile faded. "It's just…" he blinked, frowning uneasily. "I guess I didn't really expect you to feel the same way."

Emmeline looked at him a moment before a smile spread across her face – she suddenly felt inexplicably and irrefutably happy.

"Sirius." She whispered his name with a quiet reverence, and her heart filled with joy. "Of course I feel the same way."

The reaction on Sirius's face as she said those words made her heart soar. "Really?" he croaked after a moment, as if hardly daring to believe what she said.

"Yes," she blushed, still smiling widely. "I'd wanted to kiss you for such a long time, but when I did, I was afraid I'd made you uncomfortable. So I ran away."

Sirius blinked at her, still looking completely dumbfounded by her admission. "Seriously?" he asked, and Emmeline giggled, her eyes shining.

"You really didn't know I liked you?"

He continued to stare at her for a moment before slowly beginning to smile. "Well no, not really! I mean, I know you kissed me and everything, but I've been acting like a huge prat for so long, I didn't know if you actually meant it." He shook his head, his sincerity evident. "I can't believe I hung out with all those other girls for so long when _you_… I mean– " he laughed. "You're just so… you're amazing and… and when I'm with you, I just…"

He shook his head again, unable to find the right words to properly express the extent of his feelings for her. Emmeline's smile widened as tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. Throat constricted, she let out a watery laugh before the words pounding around in her brain came spilling out of her mouth:

"I really like you."

Sirius laughed again, continuing to grin like an idiot. "I really like you, too."

They both smiled from ear to ear, and Sirius moved forward to press his lips against hers in another ardent kiss. Emmeline smiled against him, reaching up to grasp his face in her hands. Sirius moved his hands down so he gripped her waist, smiling against her as he did so. His arms snaked around her, pulling her closer to him, and Emmeline moved her hands up so her fingers tangled in his dark hair. After a moment, Sirius lightly pressed his forehead to hers, smiling happily against her lips. Emmeline smiled too, and felt that everything was absolutely perfect.

* * *

Marlene was halfway down the stairs when she heard sounds from the common room; she stopped in her tracks, listening intently. Was that Emmeline? There was only one way to find out – Marlene quietly tiptoed her way down the rest of the steps, peeking around the doorway, apprehensive as to what she might find:

What she found was Emmeline and Sirius standing together near the fireplace, locked in an affectionate embrace.

Marlene silently slapped a hand to her mouth, her eyes so wide they almost popped out of her skull. She immediately pulled back around so she was pressed against the wall of the stairwell, out of sight of the two. Her heart was jumping in her chest, due to both her acute fear of being caught as well as just the shock of what she had caught them doing.

Sirius and Emmeline – together! In the middle of the night!

_Merlin's beard!_

Marlene slowly brought her hand down from her mouth, having a sudden urge to giggle hysterically. Her face was flaming red; she didn't think they had noticed her (they did seem a bit preoccupied after all), and she tried to keep as quiet as possible, despite the stupid grin that threatened to split her face in two. Subduing her smile and pressing her lips together, she swiftly and silently hurried back up the stairs toward the dormitory, deciding to leave them to it.

She didn't know how long they had been sneaking around together, but she honestly didn't want to know. They obviously wanted to keep it a secret, and she was going to respect that. Marlene quietly slipped back into bed, grinning into her pillow, with only three words on her mind:

_About bloody time._

* * *

Sirius was beside himself. Never in a million years did he think this would happen: that Emmeline Vance would say these things to him! That this girl – _this _girl – would kiss him and hold him and say how she felt about him! It was a strange, wonderful sensation for him to be so open about his feelings for her too. She was now his, and he was hers – their hearts were out on their sleeves, exposed and vulnerable: but it was amazing, and Sirius's brain was wrapped in a delighted fog. He prayed he would never wake up from this wonderful dream.

And to think he had wanted to say goodbye to her…

Emmeline's nose brushed his as she smiled up at him. "We should be getting back to bed soon."

Sirius smiled too, the taste of her still on his lips. "Must we?"

Emmeline played with the hair at the nape of his neck, considering his words. "Mm… no, not yet." She whispered, grinning sweetly at him, and he grinned back. They were silent for a few seconds as they held one another, savoring the moment.

Emmeline suddenly giggled. "I just remembered, I'm in my pajamas."

Sirius pulled back a little so he could smile at her. "So? So am I, and I think you look beautiful."

Emmeline blushed and grinned back at him. "That's really sweet of you, but it's just that whenever I pictured this moment, I didn't look like I was about ready to go to bed." She shrugged, embarrassed, and Sirius's smile widened.

"Oh, I dunno… I'm pretty happy with how this moment played out." Sirius pulled her closer to him, grinning. Emmeline smiled too; she leaned forward and kissed him chastely on the lips, the affection shining in her eyes as she pulled back and gazed up at him.

"Me too."

Sirius smiled again, and he wondered idly if he would ever stop. Just as he thought that, however, another idea came unbidden to his mind, breaking the spell. His smile faded slightly.

"What do you think we should do now?" he asked her quietly, and Emmeline's smile faded too.

She sighed, tightening her hold around his neck. "I don't know. All I know is I just want to stand here with you for as long as I possibly can."

Sirius's heart sped up at her words. How could he have been so lucky as to capture the heart of this amazing, beautiful girl? He moved his hands up so they were on either side of her face, his thumbs lightly brushing her cheeks, and he leaned down to kiss her again, his touch reassuring and gentle. She responded to him, and after a few seconds, he pulled away, once again pressing his forehead to hers, trying to convey all his feelings for her in a single touch.

"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered, and he felt her smile against him. "I want you to know that nothing is going to change when we wake up tomorrow morning. I'll still feel the same way – I really want this to work."

In her eyes he saw joy, amusement, and excitement, all rolled together in one beautiful look. She beamed up at him, and Sirius felt his heart skip a beat.

"Me too, Padfoot. Me too," she whispered, smiling at him, and he let out a small chuckle. "Do you think we should tell the others though?"

Sirius had thought about that – should the others know about them? People like James and Marlene seemed to have some idea, but all things considered, Sirius wanted to enjoy this new intimacy with Emmeline for as long as he possibly could before their friends got involved.

"Let's hold off on that. At least for a little while," Sirius muttered, and he saw the relieved look flash across Emmeline's face. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah," Emmeline nodded emphatically. "I mean, I do want to tell them eventually…"

"…In time," Sirius agreed, and Emmeline smiled.

"…but for now, I want it to be… well," Emmeline blushed slightly. "…I'd like it to be just us for awhile."

Sirius smiled at the magical words – _just us. _So full of promise and potential; he had never believed he could feel this happy.

"Just us," he repeated, smiling, and Emmeline glowed.

Sirius didn't know what was going to happen in the coming days, but when Emmeline leaned forward to kiss him again, any worries he had dissolved into blissful oblivion. He knew he and Emmeline would find a way to make this work. It was going to be difficult, but right now, Sirius felt he could do just about anything.

They finally said goodnight, and Sirius felt he couldn't wait for the next morning.

* * *

**This chapter is probably the mushiest thing I've ever written. You're welcome!**

**Next chapter will be up soon! If you enjoyed this one, please leave a review:)**


	22. Chapter 22

**glazedwater: **Well I'm glad it was worth the wait! Enjoy this next chapter:)

**iceandfire 105: **Thank you! Is this soon enough for you? Lol enjoy!

**Luise_Mau: **I'm glad you liked it! I look forward to writing their relationship in the coming chapters:) And don't worry about it – we all make mistakes lol. Hope you like this next chapter!

**Wednesday**

**January 16****th**

**5:54 pm**

* * *

"So you did talk to Emmeline?" James asked Sirius as they walked along the fourth floor corridor on their way to dinner.

"Yeah."

"And you're just going to stay friends?" James frowned disbelievingly, and Sirius grimaced.

"Looks like it."

James shook his head, bemused. "But I don't get it – I thought you guys liked each other!"

"It's not that simple, mate," Sirius shrugged evasively. "She and I talked about it, and we agreed it just wasn't the right time. That's all."

James looked over at his friend. "Hm… you seem to be taking it rather well," he said, sounding suspicious. Sirius grimaced, trying to look innocent.

"Do you expect me to cry about it or something?" he asked with a smirk, and fortunately James grinned too. "I told you – she and I talked about it and we decided we're going to stay friends. It'll be fine this way."

James still looked a bit skeptical. "Okay…" he said slowly after a moment. "So you're alright, then?"

"Yes," Sirius said assuredly as they stopped beside a suit of armor. "Really," he laughed as James continued to look dubious. "I know it's not ideal, but Emmeline and I are friends – we'll figure it out eventually. But for right now, we feel it's just not the right time."

James grimaced, finally looking convinced. "Well, I'm sorry, mate," he said sincerely. "I'm glad you're okay and everything, but I know how you really felt about her."

"Yeah," Sirius gave what he hoped looked like a sad smile. "Thanks, Prongs."

"You coming down to dinner?" James nodded toward the grand staircase, but Sirius shook his head.

"Nah, I was going to get some work done in the library," he turned toward an adjacent corridor, frowning suddenly. "Er… I'll catch you up."

James nodded and turned to leave. Sirius watched him walk away, an odd look on his face – once James was out of sight, Sirius then turned and slipped away silently toward the library.

~/~

Sirius walked past the many bookshelves, keeping a wary eye out for Madam Pince. After what seemed like ages, he finally made it to the back of the library, near the Restricted Section. He sought out a secluded little alcove near a window, which was littered with empty desks and chairs. He stopped in front of it and glanced around; he frowned and walked further in. He cautiously slid his backpack off his shoulder and set it on a nearby chair, still gazing around.

A shifting noise came from behind him, and before he could turn around, a pair of unseen arms wrapped around his waist, holding him in an affectionate embrace. Sirius grinned to himself, knowing she was finally here.

"Hey you," Sirius shifted around so he was facing Emmeline. She pulled back slightly and smiled up at him. She looked extra beautiful today with her blonde hair up in a plait.

"Hi," she said quietly, her eyes shining. She leaned up to give him a kiss, and Sirius kissed her back, smiling happily. He then broke the kiss, taking her hands and pulling her further into the small alcove, where it was more intimate. Emmeline grinned, glancing over her shoulder. She giggled in anticipation.

"Shh," Sirius whispered, grinning playfully as he too glanced around for eavesdroppers. "Over here…"

He dragged her into the alcove, to a corner hidden away from prying eyes, between a wall and a bookshelf. The next second, Sirius had her pressed up against the bookshelf and was kissing her with a fervent passion, his hands clutching at her waist. Emmeline was surprised, but responded immediately, running her hands through his hair and holding him close. The desperate longing they felt for each other was evident as Sirius wrapped his arms around Emmeline, and she responded by groaning into his mouth.

They were lost in one another, and Emmeline felt her heart was going to burst from the sheer joy she felt being with him.

After a blissful eternity, they broke apart, and Emmeline's eyes fluttered open, her mind and body still reeling. Sirius was a little breathless, and his face was still close to hers. She smiled up at him.

"Happy to see me?" she whispered with a breathy giggle, and Sirius grinned, looking pleased.

"Always," he said, and Emmeline's heart soared. "I haven't seen you in forever."

"It's been one day. And we've only been dating for three," Emmeline said with a teasing smile. "Stuck on me already?"

Sirius grinned. "You know I am. And it's been more than three days for me… three months, at least."

Emmeline answered with a joyful, face-splitting grin. "You know, I'm really glad we're doing this," she said quietly, her sincerity shining in her complexion. Sirius took a step back and took her hands in his own, grinning at her with his own barely-contained happiness.

"Me too," he muttered, giving her hands an affectionate squeeze. Emmeline glanced down at their joined hands, feeling like her face was about to break from all the smiling she was doing lately.

Sirius blinked, his smile fading slightly. "James was asking me about you," he said quietly, suddenly uncomfortable, and Emmeline looked up at him. "I had to lie to him about our relationship."

She raised her eyebrows, surprised. "Really?"

Sirius nodded, still frowning slightly. "Yeah, he knew I liked you. I've never lied to him before."

Emmeline gazed up at him, concerned. "You know, if you want we can always go ahead and tell our friends about us. I'm sure they all would want to know, and sneaking around like this isn't going to last forever…"

"I thought we agreed we were going to hold off on telling them," Sirius looked down at her, frowning slightly. "I like where we are now."

Emmeline blushed, "Me too," she smiled, but her smile soon faded. "Although I didn't realize we may have to lie to our friends about us. I feel like they know us better than we thought they did."

"Too true," Sirius snorted, and Emmeline's answering smirk gave him permission to scoop her up in his arms again and press his lips to hers in a sweet kiss. She responded, placing her hands on his shoulders, and Sirius's heart skipped several beats as it was always prone to do when he was around her.

"We'll tell them. Soon," Sirius whispered against her. Emmeline pulled back to gaze up at him. "But I still want some time to get used to this… to us," he held her close, and Emmeline smiled.

"Well, I think we're off to a decent start," she said quietly, her eyes shining with happiness and some other emotion. "Wouldn't you say?"

Sirius grinned and pulled her into another kiss, answering her question in so many words.

* * *

**Wednesday**

**January 16****th**

**9:03 pm**

**Gryffindor common room**

While Sirius would have very much liked to stay in the library with Emmeline forever, both of them had actual homework to do. They knew neither of them would be able to concentrate much if they studied together, therefore Emmeline had agreed to stay in the library while Sirius made his way up to Gryffindor Tower alone. He didn't mind, however – thoughts of Emmeline and their time together in the alcove was enough to sustain the happy glow that had filled his heart since about three days ago.

He entered through the Fat Lady's portrait and into the crowded common room, looking around. He didn't see James or the other guys, but after a moment he noticed Marlene sitting in a chair beside the fireplace, looking over at him. She blinked at him, smiling awkwardly, and Sirius smiled back at her. She stood up and made her way toward him.

"Hey Sirius," she said, sounding a bit nervous, and Sirius wondered if something was wrong.

"Hey Marlene. What's up?"

Marlene shook her head. "Nothing. Er…" she hesitated. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Sure."

Marlene turned and led the way toward a nearby window, where people nearby wouldn't be able to overhear. Sirius followed her, wondering what this was about.

Once they reached the window, Marlene turned to face Sirius, her expression troubled. Sirius frowned at her.

"Everything alright?"

Marlene didn't answer right away; she bit her lip before glancing down at her hands, as if she were struggling with something. "I… wanted to apologize to you," she said after a moment. "For what I said to you before Slughorn's Christmas party. About you and Emmeline."

That was unexpected. Sirius only stared at her, more than a little surprised.

"It was unfair of me," Marlene went on sincerely. "I shouldn't've automatically assumed you would hurt her when everyone can see you guys have been getting on so well for the past few months." Her face was bright red. "I'm really sorry if I offended you, and I hope you'll forgive me."

Sirius regarded her bemusedly. "Where is this coming from, Marlene?"

Marlene blinked up at him, her eyes wide. "Er…" she swallowed. "It's, er… it's just something that's been bothering me lately, that's all. You and Emmeline…" she blushed again. "I know she thinks very highly of you, and I didn't want her to think that I disliked you or something…"

She blinked and glanced away again, embarrassed. Sirius continued to look at her, his expression now one of suspicion. There could only be one reason as to why she was now apologizing to him, and acting in such a strange manner.

"You know, don't you?" Sirius sighed after a moment, resignation in his voice. Marlene stared up at him, her eyes wide and unreadable.

After a moment, her shoulders slumped a little. "Yes," she muttered apologetically, and Sirius pressed his lips together, glancing down at his feet. "Em doesn't know that I know," she went on quickly. "And I haven't told anyone else, in case you were worried."

Sirius nodded at his feet, feeling oddly amused. "Thank you," he glanced back up at her, and Marlene smiled slightly. There was a short pause.

"Well, I…" Marlene shook her head after a moment. "I guess I was just trying to sort of tell you that… well…" She shrugged awkwardly, glancing at him. "I approve."

He grinned. "Really?"

Marlene blushed and smiled back, nodding. "I can tell she's really happy with you. These past few days…" she shrugged slightly. "I've never seen her like this before."

Sirius looked down and smiled to himself, his heart swelling with joy. "I'm really happy with her too," he confessed.

"I've noticed," Marlene smirked. "I'm happy for you, Sirius. Really."

He grinned back at her. "Thanks."

Marlene's smile faded. "But, you know, if you ever hurt her…"

"…You'll come at me with the fury of a thousand dragons," Sirius nodded sagely. "Understood."

"Good," Marlene nodded too, satisfied. She offered him a small grin, however, and he grinned back.

* * *

**Thanks for all your support! Please review:)**


	23. Chapter 23

**EmmaMabel: **Wow, thank you so much! Yes, I realize people might have some reservations about my fics, seeing as I do tend to write for unconventional/unpopular couples, but I'm very happy that readers like you have given it a chance and have responded to it so well! Anyway, I hope you like this new chapter:) And thanks again!

**iceandfire 105: **Thanks! I guess you'll see:) Here's the next chapter for you!

**Saturday**

**February 3****rd**

**8:10 am **

**Great Hall**

* * *

"Jeez Prongs – I know you're excited, but do you have to eat so much?" Remus looked at James, who was loading his plate with every food item he could reach.

"I'm gonna need my energy for today," James insisted, piling scrambled eggs onto his plate. "Tallison has been whipping his team into shape over Christmas break – we have to bring our A-game."

Today was the big Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, and the excited energy among the two Houses was almost palpable. Remus, Sirius, and Peter were all wearing their red and gold Gryffindor scarves, happily anticipating the match happening in less than an hour.

"Sally Carmichael has the best Keeping stats in the school – be careful of that," Sirius warned James, grabbing a piece of toast. "You, Renley and Treyton need to be on your toes."

"We've been practicing tactical formations for over two weeks," James said, a note of smugness in his voice. "We'll be fine."

"Good, 'cause if you win this game, you'll get to face Ravenclaw in the finals." For some reason, this made Sirius scowl. "You'll have to slaughter them. If Ravenclaw wins the Cup, I don't think I could handle it."

The other guys looked at Sirius, surprised by his venom. James smirked, nodding in approval, but Remus's brow furrowed.

"Hey guys," Marlene, Lily, and Emmeline suddenly appeared, all of them donned in their Gryffindor colors as well. Marlene grinned at James as she sat down across from him and Remus. "Ready for the match?"

"Definitely," James turned to smirk at Lily, who had taken the spot beside Marlene. "Going to wish me luck, Evans?"

"With an ego like yours, I didn't think you'd feel you needed luck." Lily smiled at him with mocking sweetness. The others laughed, and James just shook his head.

"Evans, you wound me," he said, pretending to sound hurt. He took a large bite out of a sausage link.

Emmeline quietly took the seat across from Sirius – the two of them looked at each other and smiled candidly before digging into their breakfasts. The next moment, a fourth-year girl wearing a Gryffindor Quidditch uniform approached James.

"Hey Potter. Ready to head out now?" she asked brightly. Clarisse Renley was the new Chaser on the Gryffindor team, and she looked extremely nervous yet excited for her first match. She had hazel eyes, olive skin, and dark shiny hair pulled back in a plait – she was exceptionally pretty.

Lily stared at her.

"Hey Renley. Yep – let's go," James swallowed his last bit of breakfast before jumping to his feet. "I just want to quickly give you a rundown on what to expect before the match – ready to listen?"

Clarisse nodded, her bright eyes never leaving James's face as he put an arm around her shoulders and led her down the table, talking animatedly about the anticipation and nerves associated with first Quidditch matches. Lily's eyes followed the pair as they made their way across the Great Hall. They finally disappeared into the entrance hall, and Lily turned back to her plate, her expression unreadable.

Emmeline caught Sirius's eye again, and both of them bit back grins.

"We should head over to the pitch soon too," Remus didn't seem to notice anything odd as he poured himself a bowl of cereal. "Marlene, are you going to be sitting with us?"

"Of course," Marlene said breezily, taking a sip of orange juice. "Amal understands where my loyalties lie in terms of Quidditch. Although I probably shouldn't have called his team a bunch of doxy-hearted wimps," she added with a guilty smile, and the others laughed, continuing to chat with anticipation regarding the match.

~/~

After about twenty minutes, all the students began getting up and leaving to find seats at the Quidditch pitch. Remus, Sirius, Peter, Lily, Marlene, and Emmeline all leapt up from their seats as well, and they began to make their way with the crowd toward the doors. Siobhan Burke then came up from behind them and began to walk in step beside Emmeline.

"Hey Emmy! Are you excited for the match?" she asked brightly, her eyes glowing prettily. Emmeline smiled brightly back, unable to resist the excitement associated with Quidditch matches.

"Of course! Are you going to sit with us?"

"Of course," Siobhan giggled before looking over at Sirius, who was walking on Emmeline's other side. She gave him a dazzling grin.

"Oh, I left my Gryffindor banner upstairs," Sirius said once they had reached the entrance hall. He stopped. "I'll just run up and get it – I'll only be a few minutes."

"I'll come with you," Emmeline said immediately. "I need to grab my gloves."

The others agreed to meet them down at the pitch, and continued to follow the crowd out the door. Marlene glanced back at Sirius and Emmeline with a knowing smile on her face. Siobhan also glanced at their retreating figures, her expression impassive.

Sirius and Emmeline walked up the grand staircase, away from the crowd, before turning into a deserted corridor. Once out of sight, Sirius suddenly took Emmeline's hand pulled her into an empty classroom. Emmeline laughed giddily.

"Sirius!"

Once they were inside and the door shut, he spun her around and kissed her, pulling her body flush against his. Emmeline smiled against him, her heart pounding with elation as it was so often prone to do when kissing her boyfriend.

After a blissful eternity, Sirius pulled away. "Happy three-week anniversary," he grinned down at her, and Emmeline smiled back, her heart still thumping erratically.

"Really? I thought it was on Monday," she said dreamily, not really caring one way or the other. Sirius kissed her again.

"It is," he agreed, pulling back and looking down at her. "Today is just a special occasion for me, that's all."

"Oh yeah?" Emmeline gazed up at him, a small smile still playing on her lips. "What is it?"

Sirius looked a bit sheepish, but his eyes shone with emotion as he stared down at her. "Well…" he hesitated. "Today marks the longest relationship I've ever had."

Emmeline's eyes widened as a huge smile popped onto her face. "Sirius!" she said excitedly, and threw her arms around his neck. Sirius was clearly taken aback. "That's so wonderful for you!"

Sirius blinked, looking amused as he hugged her back. "For you too, I hope."

"Well, of course," Emmeline pulled back slightly to grin at him. "But how do you feel about it?"

"Wonderful," Sirius seemed relieved at her reaction, perhaps worried she was going to laugh at him. "I feel like I could do at least three more weeks." He held her closer when she giggled in response. He grinned. "And perhaps three weeks after that…"

"I'm very glad to hear it, Padfoot." Emmeline smiled up at him affectionately, leaning up to kiss him again. Sirius chuckled, kissing her back.

"Oh – speaking of our past relationships," Emmeline pulled back and looked up at him, her expression suddenly wary. "Reggie approached me again yesterday."

Sirius's face darkened. "That's the second time this week. What is his problem?"

"I don't know," Emmeline frowned. "But I told him I was late for class, so I didn't stay to chat."

"He seems pretty persistent. You don't think he wants you back?"

Emmeline pressed her lips together, shaking her head. "Even if he does, it doesn't matter. I don't want anything to do with him anymore. We're through."

Sirius let out a sigh before giving her a small, rueful smile. "Man, it's times like these when I wish I could just tell everyone we're together. It'll make prats like Reggie back off, at least."

Emmeline laughed, "Yeah, maybe. But for right now, I'm just enjoying having you to myself." She leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek, and Sirius grinned, immediately turning his head so he could capture her lips with his own. Emmeline giggled, kissing him back with her heart fluttering.

"…I really do need to get my gloves, you know," she muttered against him after a few moments. Sirius pulled back and laughed.

"Oh, I see. I'm just distracting you," he took a step away from her, and she just grinned.

"You can distract me like this anytime," she said sweetly, and she leaned forward to peck him on the lips. Sirius smiled, feeling that everything – as it had been for almost three weeks now – was absolutely perfect.

"Come on…" he took her hand in his, smiling. "We have a Quidditch match to go to."

* * *

**Saturday**

**January 26****th**

**9:13 am **

**Quidditch Pitch**

"There you are – finally!"

Sirius and Emmeline edged into the stands where their friends were. The match had begun, and Gryffindor was already ahead, ten to zero.

"You missed Prongs's goal!" Remus shouted at Sirius over the noise of the crowd. Sirius just grinned widely, taking his place beside him and Peter.

"Where have you been, Emmy?" Siobhan demanded of Emmeline, grabbing her arm and making her stand beside her. "You took forever!"

"We couldn't find you guys," Emmeline explained, cheering along with the crowd of Gryffindors.

"Yeah, go Renley!" Marlene shouted excitedly. Clarisse Renley, in an impressive move, had swerved around to grab the Quaffle out of the hands of Dietrich, one of the Hufflepuff Chasers.

"Renley of Gryffindor has taken the Quaffle," Maged Bhandari, the commentator for the match, shouted enthusiastically from the top box. "She passes it to Treyton, who passes it back to Renley… Renley heads for goal… she shoots… SHE SCORES! Twenty-zero, to Gryffindor!"

"No, come _on_!" Amal shouted angrily from Marlene's left. Marlene, who was celebrating happily with the other Gryffindors, didn't hear him.

"Looks like Renley is proving her worth today," Sirius squeezed past Remus so he could stand beside Emmeline, who was cheering excitedly with everyone else.

"She is really amazing!" Emmeline grinned at him. She pretended not to have noticed Lily, who was standing on the bench right behind her, stiffen slightly.

"Now it's Belle of Hufflepuff with the Quaffle," Maged continued with his commentary. "Belle passes it to Dietrich, who flies ahead… whoa! Almost hit by a Bludger there! Dietrich passes to Tallison, who passes it back to Belle. Belle flies ahead… she shoots… SHE SCORES! Twenty-ten, to Gryffindor!"

"YEAH!" Amal cheered loudly, much to Marlene's consternation. "Take that, you stupid Lions!"

"You got this, Prongs!" Sirius shouted as James passed by near the stands. James heard him, and he turned his head to give Sirius a quick salute before flying back into the game.

"That's so stupid – Dietrich should have gotten fouled!" Siobhan shouted angrily. None of the others said anything to that, unclear as to how she came to that logic.

The match continued on for fifteen more minutes, with Hufflepuff pulling ahead with three more goals. The score was now forty-twenty to Hufflepuff, and tensions were running high:

"Come on, Mary," Emmeline said anxiously, gazing up at Mary MacDonald flying around and searching for the Snitch. "Find it…"

"They've had to have spotted it by now," Marlene was gazing worriedly at Marshall Reddington, the Hufflepuff Seeker, who was also circling the pitch.

"Dietrich of Hufflepuff with the Quaffle. He passes to Belle… hold on!" Maged said suddenly. "Was that the Snitch?"

A gasp shuddered around the crowd as both Mary MacDonald and Marshall Reddington rocketed upward, toward the glint of gold fluttering near the middle of the pitch. Reddington was closer – his hand was already outstretched to grab it. Mary was lighter than him, however, and in a second her broom was level with his. She reached out…

"GO GO GO!" The student body all cheered the Seekers on.

With a mighty lurch and a heart-stopping moment of confusion, Mary MacDonald emerged from the small tussle with her fist in the air, a big smile on her face and the Snitch clutched tightly in her hand.

"MACDONALD'S GOT THE SNITCH!" Maged shouted happily. "GRYFFINDOR WINS! A HUNDRED SEVENTY POINTS TO FORTY!

The Gryffindor stands exploded. Their cheers and yells and excited screams drowned out the disappointed boos from the Hufflepuffs. James and the rest of the Gryffindor team converged on Mary, hugging her in mid-air and cheering gleefully.

"We won! We won!" Marlene screamed excitedly, jumping up and down.

"We did it – we're in the finals!" Peter cheered.

"Way to go, Mary!" Lily shouted happily.

The teams descended to the ground, and Emmeline continued to cheer and yell and clap loudly, elated beyond belief. She was so happy – so relieved – that Gryffindor had managed to pull ahead and win… her heart swelled with joy, and when she turned to look at Sirius, and he looked at her, she was sure his expression mirrored her own. In a second, they were in each other's arms, holding one another in a joyful embrace, and the next moment, their lips locked in a celebratory kiss, briefly forgetting where they were.

It was a few seconds before either of them realized what they were doing, and they quickly pulled away, blinking at each other. There was a moment when they wondered if anyone had seen them…

Slowly, as one, Sirius and Emmeline turned to see six pairs of wide eyes frozen and staring at them.

* * *

**Hope you liked this chapter! And sorry for the cliffhanger... I just can't seem to quit them;)**

**Please review!**


	24. Chapter 24

**glazedwater: **Oh wow – that's wonderful! Thank you:) Hope you like this chapter just as much!

**iceandfire 105: **While I don't necessarily have a formal outline for this story, I actually do have somedrama planned in some future chapters (spoilers!), so stay tuned for that! Hope you enjoy this chapter in the meantime:)

**Saturday**

**February 3rd**

**10:15 am**

**Quidditch Pitch**

* * *

Sirius and Emmeline quickly stepped away from each other, looking anywhere but the other as they waited in awkward silence.

"Wow," Remus stared at the pair of them, clearly at a loss. He let out a confused chuckle. "That was awkward."

"Huh," Peter looked as if he was trying to figure out a difficult math problem.

Emmeline swallowed, glancing self-consciously down at her feet. She was aware that Lily was suppressing giggles.

"Wha –?" Amal's eyes were wide as he gazed between Emmeline and Sirius. "Did you guys just kiss?"

"No," Sirius said quickly. He awkwardly scratched the back of his head, glancing over at Emmeline, and she bit her lip.

"Wow. Way to celebrate, Em," Lily snickered. Emmeline went red.

"We should be getting back," Marlene said quickly. "Everyone's heading back to the common room to celebrate."

The Quidditch stands were indeed beginning to empty out around them, the Gryffindor crowd still celebrating joyfully on their win. Marlene made to lead them all down to the pitch, but Amal seemed determined to keep them right where they were.

"No, wait – hold on," he raised a hand to halt Marlene. He was still frowning over at Emmeline and Sirius. "Are you two together or something?"

Sirius and Emmeline froze. The others, obviously burning to know, seemed grateful that Amal had asked the question that was on all of their minds – as one, they turned to look at the two of them, anticipating an answer. The silence pressed on, and Emmeline turned to look at Sirius, who looked back at her.

"They were going to find out eventually…" she shrugged, feeling her cheeks go red, and Sirius smiled. Lily gasped.

"WHAT?!" Siobhan shrieked.

"I _knew_ it!" Amal looked triumphant as he punched the air with his fist.

"No way!" Remus's eyes were wide as he stared at the two of them, a delighted grin spreading across his face. "You're together?"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Peter sounded affronted.

Emmeline and Sirius simply grinned, embarrassed. Neither of them had planned the others find out this way, but it seemed pointless to try and hide it now. Marlene shook her head, smiling to herself.

"You guys need to move," a red-haired prefect walking along the stands approached them. "The match is over – we need to clear the place."

Indeed, the eight of them were the only ones now left in the stands. Conceding, they quickly made their way down the steps and onto the pitch, following the now-distant crowd of retreating Hogwarts students. People like Lily, however, still seemed keen to discuss the new development:

"So how long has this been going on?" she asked eagerly, scuttling to Emmeline's side.

"Three weeks or so," Emmeline blushed, feeling the others' eyes on her.

"And you never said?!" Lily looked shocked. "We're your friends! How could you keep this from us?"

"Leave them alone, Lily," Marlene chided her friend. "They obviously wanted a little time together before they told us."

"I bet you knew this whole time," Amal shot at Marlene, who quickly blushed.

"No, I didn't…"

"Well, I think it's great," Remus spoke up, smiling over at Sirius and Emmeline. "I always knew you guys liked each other – I'm glad something has finally been able to come of it."

"Thank you, Moony," Sirius grinned widely at his friend.

They had reached the large oak front doors, and began to head up the grand staircase toward the common room. Amal departed for his own common room, looking less upset about Hufflepuff's loss as he grinned over his shoulder at Sirius and Emmeline; they smiled back at him, both of them feeling much happier about this whole situation. As they walked up the stairs, Sirius quietly took Emmeline's hand in his, causing her to smirk up at him. He flashed her a grin.

"What?" he muttered innocently so only she could hear, and Emmeline just shook her head, still smiling.

"Ooh, look – they're holding hands!" Lily squealed excitedly from behind them. "That's _adorable_!"

The others laughed as Emmeline went red. Sirius looked quite delighted with himself.

They finally reached the portrait hole, and when they opened it, a wall of sound hit them full-force. All of Gryffindor House was packed inside the common room, celebrating happily over their win against Hufflepuff. The group clambered through the portrait hole and into the raucous celebration.

"Yeah-h-h! Go Lions!" A seventh-year boy shouted, toasting his butterbeer to the crowd. The Gryffindors all responded with whoops and cheers.

"We won! We won!" Bradley Trent exclaimed triumphantly.

"Did you see Renley's steal? That was amazing!" Dorcas Meadows squealed excitedly to Frank Longbottom.

"So was Mary's catch!" Frank grinned at her. "This game was definitely one for the books!"

"Guys!" James appeared out of the crowd, a butterbeer in his hand and a grin plastered on his face. "Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"We were held up," Remus approached James, glancing over at Sirius and Emmeline. "We were being introduced to Padfoot's new girlfriend."

James looked over at Sirius, who was talking quietly to Emmeline. Sirius then looked up and met James's eyes, and for a moment, neither of them said anything. James stared back at Sirius, looking surprised and affronted; he glanced over at Emmeline, who had looked down, blushing. He blinked, realizing the truth.

"Emmeline?" he asked Remus in disbelief. Remus nodded, a small, incredulous grin on his face.

"Yep. They've been at it for a few weeks now, apparently. They kept it from all of us. Did you know?"

James paused for a beat. "No," he said quietly before walking over to where Sirius and Emmeline were standing.

Sirius quickly stepped forward. "Prongs, look…"

"You lied to me," James stared at his best friend, sounding confused and hurt. Sirius looked deeply uncomfortable. "So when I had asked you about Emmeline…?"

"I'm sorry, mate," Sirius said immediately. "I wanted to tell you, but Emmeline and I had just started dating, and we had agreed to keep it to ourselves. You kept asking me about her and…" Sirius shook his head, looking contrite. "I didn't know what else to do. I really am sorry."

James no longer looked upset; however, his expression was now unreadable. He glanced over at Emmeline, who was looking anxiously between him and Sirius. His brow furrowed slightly as he turned back to Sirius.

"How long have you been dating?" he asked. Something in his tone made it seem like he wasn't angry, merely curious.

"Nearly three weeks now," Sirius said hesitantly. James glanced over at Emmeline again before his expression softened.

"_Three _weeks?" he raised his eyebrows, a smile forming on his lips as he glanced back at Sirius. He obviously knew Sirius had never sustained a relationship that long before.

Sirius paused a second before smiling too. "Yeah."

James suddenly grinned, his smile broad and sincere. "Wow – that's incredible, mate!" He suddenly moved forward and enveloped Sirius in a bear hug. "Congratulations!"

Sirius grinned in relief, hugging him back. "Thanks, Prongs."

"And you – c'mere!" James suddenly let go of Sirius as he moved over to envelope Emmeline in a big hug. She hugged him back, looking surprised and delighted. She giggled.

"So it's really official, then?" James broke the hug, but kept Emmeline at his side, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Emmeline's face went red as she looked over at Sirius, who looked unembarrassed as he grinned back at her.

"Yeah, it's pretty official," he said happily, looking into Emmeline's eyes. She glowed.

"Awwww," Lily and Marlene, who were standing nearby, covered their smiles with their hands.

"That's adorable," James gave Emmeline's shoulders a small squeeze. "You take care of our Padfoot, alright Em?"

"Leave her alone, Prongs," Sirius said as Remus, Lily, and Marlene chuckled. Emmeline smiled shyly.

"I'll do my best," she said to James, who nodded, satisfied.

"Well, this is an interesting development..." James finally let go of Emmeline to move over by Remus and the others, still grinning broadly. "Gryffindor goes to the finals, and two of our best friends find happiness with each other. This is like the best day ever!"

The others laughed, and the party going on around them suddenly seemed to fit the joyful atmosphere that had settled around the group of friends. They all grabbed drinks from nearby tables and began to chat happily with each other, talking about Gryffindor's chances against Ravenclaw in the Quidditch Cup come April. Sirius and Emmeline, relieved the others had reacted the way they did to the news of their relationship, felt free to enjoy themselves with the festivities as well. The happiness practically radiated off them as they partied with all of Gryffindor House, feeling that life was good.

~/~

Hours later, the party had finally begun to die down. Night had fallen, and people began to leave the trashed common room to stumble back up to their dormitories to go to bed. The Gryffindor sixth-years, feeling exhausted, agreed to turn in for the night: the guys all headed toward the boys dormitory and the girls went toward theirs. Sirius had decided to give Emmeline a sweet goodnight kiss before departing, causing an outbreak of hollers and whoops and catcalls from their friends. Emmeline could only blush and smile for the millionth time that night.

Up in the girls' dormitory, Emmeline, Marlene, Siobhan, and Lily all got ready for bed. While Siobhan was in the lavatory and Lily was changing into her pajamas, Marlene turned to Emmeline.

"Oh, Em – I'm so happy for you," She pulled Emmeline in for a hug, smiling kindly. "I always knew how much you liked him."

Emmeline smiled as she hugged her best friend back. "I guess I've always been pretty transparent to you."

Marlene laughed, stepping away. "But it's not just you. I can tell, Sirius _really_ likes you too!"

"I know," Emmeline shook her head bemusedly, as if she could hardly believe it herself. "Who'd have thought Sirius Black would end up fancying _me_?"

"Oh, I believe it," Marlene said sincerely, grinning widely, and Emmeline's smile grew bigger. The two girls embraced again.

"Thanks Marlene," Emmeline whispered, and Marlene grinned.

"You're welcome, Em."

~/~

Emmeline slipped into bed, reflecting on this past day. She smiled to herself – the day had commenced much differently from what she and Sirius had initially planned; but, in hindsight, it probably could have ended up a whole lot worse. All of their friends seemed to be very supportive of her and Sirius's relationship, possibly due to their observations over the last few months of her and Sirius's growing feelings for one another, or possibly due to their own residual happiness brought on by Gryffindor's win. Either way, Emmeline was very happy with the day's outcome, and she continued to smile as she thought about it.

Marlene headed over to the lavatory, yawning and stretching. Just as she reached the door, however, Siobhan stepped out of it, wearing a yellow nightgown and her hair up in a messy plait.

Emmeline looked over at Siobhan, and their eyes met. Siobhan looked back at her, her eyes wide and unreadable. Her lips had suddenly pressed together in a firm line, and Emmeline had the impression she wanted to say something, but was trying not to.

After a few seconds, Siobhan took a deep breath and then gave Emmeline a small, simpering smile. "Goodnight, Emmy," she hissed, her voice sickly sweet.

Emmeline blinked at her. "'Night, Siobhan," she said softly, watching as she turned and stalked toward her own four-poster without another word.

Emmeline sighed to herself, trying not to dwell on how kind and supportive friends were apparently of a limited variety.

* * *

**I do have a few more chapters planned for this story, so stay tuned for those! I'll still try to update on a fairly regular basis, despite the fact I have finals coming up. **

**Please review! You'd be making my day:)**


	25. Chapter 25

**glazedwater: **Oh please, don't worry about me – school always comes first:) Lol but I'm glad you liked it so much! Here's the next chapter for you.

**Raingirl4513: **Wow, thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying this story so much:) Enjoy this new chapter!

**iceandfire 105: **Thanks! You'll just have to wait and see;) Here's the next update for you!

**animexchick: **Hm yes, we should keep an eye on her… in the meantime, check out this next chapter!

**Monday**

**February 5****th**

**3:54 pm**

* * *

"You sure you can't come to Ancient Runes with me?"

Emmeline smirked. "I have Potions right now."

Sirius pretended to pout. "I know. I just wanted to spend some more time with you, that's all."

"You say the sweetest things sometimes."

Sirius grinned. The two of them were walking together down the first floor corridor, each heading for their last class of the day before dinner. Since they had just come out to their friends as a couple, Sirius had insisted on walking Emmeline to all of her classes that day. Emmeline just laughed, pointing out that he'd been perpetually late for all of his own.

"You do realize you have to be on the fifth floor in, like, five minutes, right?" Emmeline admonished, but her eyes shone with humor and affection.

"Don't worry – they won't start without me," Sirius shrugged cockily, and Emmeline laughed.

They turned a corner, and noticed a cluster of Slytherins standing near the Transfiguration classroom. They were talking amongst themselves, and didn't pay any attention to Sirius and Emmeline, until one dark-haired Slytherin boy turned around and looked right at them. Emmeline realized, looking at this boy's remarkably familiar features, that he must have been Sirius's little brother, Regulus.

Sirius made a point of ignoring him, but Regulus had broken away from his group of friends and approached them determinedly.

"I need to talk to you," Regulus said to his brother in a clipped voice, and Sirius and Emmeline halted. Sirius threw Regulus a stony glare before looking back at Emmeline.

"I'll meet up with you at dinner," he muttered to her, and she gave him a small smile. She leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek.

"Bye, sweetie," she whispered shyly, and he grinned at her. He watched as she turned and walked away toward the dungeons.

"Who's she?"

Sirius looked back around to shoot his brother a dirty look. "No one. What do you want?"

Regulus raised an eyebrow, "You don't have to be so rude. It was a simple question."

"What do you want, Reg? I have to be in class in a couple minutes," Sirius rolled his eyes wearily. Regulus looked surprised, but didn't pursue the subject further.

"A letter came for me this morning," Regulus scowled as he pulled a battered-looking envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Sirius. "It's addressed to you."

Sirius frowned, taking it from him. "What?"

"Apparently our uncle sent this letter to you a couple weeks ago, but it never reached you," Regulus said tersely. "It was redirected to me."

Sirius was shocked; he turned the letter over in his hand, noticing the red Ministry of Magic stamp on the back. "That's weird."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say someone was tracking your mail," Regulus shoved his hands in his pockets, looking unconcerned about it. "And not being very subtle about it, either."

Sirius pressed his lips together before shoving the envelope into his bag. "Yeah, I think I've been having issues with that since Christmas. I'll submit an inquiry to the Ministry." Without another word, he hitched up his bag and didn't look back as he brushed past Regulus toward the grand staircase.

"What, that's it?"

Sirius turned, and saw his brother staring incredulously at him. Sirius gave him a stony glare.

"What's it?"

"Don't play all innocent with me – I know what you're really like. Last time I talked to you, you tried to hex my nose off my face."

Sirius grimaced, turning back around. "Well, you were asking for it. I have to go."

"Seriously, what's got into you?" Regulus sounded incredulous, and Sirius sighed, turning to face him again. "You're acting weird. Are you sick or something?" Regulus raised his eyebrows, not so much concerned as he was hopeful.

"I'm sick of _you_. Goodbye, now."

"It's not going to work, you know," Regulus called after him. "Getting on my good side… Mum and Dad aren't going to forgive you for what you've done, in case you were wondering."

Sirius's eyes flashed, his anger spiking. He whirled around to face his brother again. "I don't want their _forgiveness_," he spat, fuming. "You, Mum, and Dad can all go eat bubotuber pus! What the hell makes you think I want anything to do with you people anymore?"

Regulus scowled, looking just as livid as he glared back at Sirius. "Mum said that you're going to be sorry for what you've done. That one day you're going to come crawling back to us, and we're not going to forgive you because you don't deserve it."

Sirius blanched, shocked by that statement. Anger and indignation surged up in his chest, making him practically shake with suppressed rage – that's really what his mother thought? He was going to beg her to forgive him for leaving their evil family? That mad, presumptuous old cow! Sirius took a deep breath, trying to calm his raging emotions. He closed his eyes and focused his mind on Emmeline, which helped a little.

"You people…" he hissed between gritted teeth, trying to reign in his temper. He finally opened his eyes and glared straight at his brother. "Perhaps I should ship you guys off to St. Mungo's and get your heads checked, you're being so delusional. I doubt it would do any good, though," he spat. "You can believe what you want – I'm done with you." He turned to leave again.

Regulus blinked, completely floored. He was obviously expecting a fight. "What's the matter with you?" Regulus snapped, sounding suddenly angry. He began to follow Sirius, who didn't turn around. "It's that girl you were with, isn't it? She's messed you up." Regulus raised his voice, trying to rile him, but Sirius wasn't taking the bait. He continued resolutely down the corridor.

"Has hanging around Mudbloods like her made you soft or something?"

Sirius froze at the sound of the hateful word. That got to him.

* * *

**Monday**

**February 5****th**

**6:14 pm**

**Great Hall**

"Do you want some mashed parsnips, Emmy?"

"Erm, sure," Emmeline looked a little baffled as Siobhan spooned some food onto Emmeline's dinner plate. Siobhan had been extra nice to her all day – her motives were unclear, but Emmeline could hazard a guess as to why she was acting this strange.

"Whoops!" Siobhan accidentally spilled some pumpkin juice on Emmeline's lap as she tried to refill Emmeline's goblet. "Sorry, Emmy."

"It's okay, Siobhan," she said wearily, dabbing her soaked lap with her napkin.

"So how did Potions go for you guys today?" Lily handed Emmeline some extra napkins. "I'm so excited Slughorn's finally letting us create our own potions now… I think Remus and I were able to make a decent vanishing elixir. Don't you think, Remus?"

"Definitely. Slughorn said it was one of the best he'd even seen," Remus grinned proudly. He turned to Emmeline and Siobhan. "How'd you guys do?"

Emmeline shook her head, pulling a face. "Not so well. Our nail-biting solution turned pretty foul by the time we mixed in the toadstool warts."

Siobhan cleared her throat, but didn't say anything to that.

"Hey guys," James suddenly approached the table, looking uncharacteristically grim as he took a seat. "Emmeline – Sirius told me to tell you he's sorry, but he can't make it to dinner tonight. He got detention for fighting in the corridor."

Marlene and Amal both made sounds of surprise, and Emmeline's shoulders slumped. She had been worried about that when she left him with Regulus. "It was with his brother, wasn't it?"

James nodded, pulling a tureen of peas toward him. "This isn't the first time it's happened either. They're always at each other's throats."

"Sirius is always getting detentions, though," Lily shrugged offhandedly. "What's the big deal?"

James glanced shiftily at Emmeline. "Well, he hasn't exactly been getting a lot of detentions lately. Not since…"

He didn't continue, but the others knew what he meant. Emmeline went red as Amal, Lily, and Marlene all smiled at her. She hastily took a sip of pumpkin juice.

"Well, with any luck, he'll be back in the common room before midnight," Remus checked his watch. "Shall we go up to Gryffindor Tower and wait up for him?"

The others agreed, and they quickly finished their dinners before saying goodbye to Amal and making their way back up to the common room.

Once in Gryffindor Tower, all of them spread out to do different things: Marlene and Emmeline sat at a table in a corner to work on their Defense Against the Dark Arts essays, Siobhan had quickly grabbed her bag and headed off to work in the library, Remus and Peter sat near the fire to work on what looked like a map, and James, having managed to coerce her somehow, was playing a game of wizard's chess by the window with Lily. Marlene watched the two of them with a smile on her face.

"He looks like he's won the sweepstakes," She snickered, watching how James practically glowed with love as Lily took out one of his rooks. "You'd think she agreed to marry him or something…"

Marlene turned to look back at Emmeline, who was just staring blankly down at her half-written essay. Marlene's smile faded.

"Hey, it's alright," she whispered reassuringly, and Emmeline looked up. "Sirius'll be done with his detention in a couple hours, and he'll back up here before you know it. There's no need to worry."

Emmeline still said nothing. She looked rather pale, and Marlene frowned in concern.

"Are you okay?"

Emmeline blinked, seeming to come back to herself a little. "Yeah… yeah, I'm fine," she muttered, picking up her quill again. She continued to write her essay, and Marlene decidedly didn't push the subject. She figured Emmeline's mind was still on Sirius, and Marlene turned back to her own essay, staying silent as she wrote.

After a long time where neither of them said anything, Emmeline finally set down her quill and muttered that she was going to bed. Marlene watched in concern as Emmeline made her solitary way toward the girl's dormitory.

"Hey, is she alright?" Lily walked over and took Emmeline's vacated seat, gazing after her retreating figure. Marlene shrugged.

"I guess so. I think she's just worried about Sirius." Marlene turned her attention back to her arduous essay. "...Oh, did you understand the bit about poltergeist venom? I've been searching through this stupid book for like twenty minutes…"

The two of them continued to work on homework as the common room slowly emptied out around them. It was well past midnight, and Sirius still wasn't back from his detention – Remus, James, and Peter had all decided to give up waiting for him and call it a night. Marlene, who had finally finished her essay (as best as could be managed), began to pack up her things to turn in along with them. She and Lily made their way up the girl's dormitory together, trying to stay quiet so they wouldn't wake anyone.

"I wonder what Sirius is doing that's taking him so long," Lily whispered as they walked up the stairs. "Maybe they're making him clean out all the bathroom sinks without magic?"

Marlene giggled. "God, I hope not. But maybe that'll teach him not to get in fights with his br –"

Marlene froze in her tracks, as did Lily - they had finally reached their dormitory, and had opened the door…

Emmeline, pale as death, lay sprawled on the ground beside her bed, completely unconscious.

* * *

**And the drama begins! If you liked this chapter, please leave a review:)**

**Thanks!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Raingirl4513: **Jeez, no need to get violent! Here's the next chapter for you!:)

**Luise_Mau: **It was meant to be a shock, so I guess I succeeded:) And I agree, Sirius and Emmeline are way too adorable! Lol enjoy this next chapter!

**EmmaMabel: **Aw thanks!:) But you'll have to wait and find out! (Sorry) Anyway, hope you like this next chapter!

**glazedwater: **Oh boy, hang in there!:( Here's the next chapter for you!

**iceandfire 105: **Yeah… sorry about that:( Hope I didn't keep you in suspense too long. Anyway, here's the next chapter!

**Tuesday**

**February 6****th**

**3:05 am**

**Boys Dormitory**

* * *

Scrubbing out all the troughs in the greenhouses took a ridiculously long time, and as a result, Sirius didn't get back from his detention until about three in the morning. He began to trudge sleepily through the castle and up to Gryffindor Tower, too exhausted to even feel resentment anymore towards his brother for landing him in this situation. He pulled himself through the portrait hole and crossed the common room, which was dark and empty due to the late hour. He climbed sullenly up the stairs to the boy's dormitory, and once he had reached the familiar room, shuffled toward his bed, kicked off his shoes, and fell face-first onto his covers without even changing into his pajamas. In a matter of seconds, he was fast asleep.

~/~

In what felt like the next minute, however, he was being rudely awakened:

"Sirius!"

Someone had switched on the light to the dark dormitory, causing all the guys in the room to wake up and groan as the brightness seared at their tired eyelids. Sirius blinked blearily, lifting his face up from his pillow.

"Sorry guys," a girl's voice spoke up from the doorway, and Sirius dimly realized it was Marlene. "Where's Sirius?"

"Whuz happ'ning?" Sirius propped himself up on his right elbow, rubbing his eyes with his left hand. A cursory glance at his alarm clock told him it was barely 6 am.

Marlene quickly dashed to his bed. "Sirius – are you awake?"

Sirius glared blearily at her. "I am now. What on earth are you doing?"

"You have to come with me. Right now."

Sirius blinked up at Marlene, her face finally coming into focus. He saw she had dark circles under her eyes, and her expression was pale and frantic, as if she had been up half the night worrying about something. Sirius had only ever seen her like this when Emmeline had gone missing that one time a few months ago.

He pulled himself up slightly, frowning. "Why? What's wrong?"

Marlene gazed at him, her tired eyes wide and anxious. Her voice shook slightly as she spoke: "It's Emmeline. We had to take her to the hospital wing last night."

All of Sirius's sleepiness evaporated. He sat up completely, a panicked edge to his voice. "_What_?"

"It was last night, after everyone else went to bed," Marlene sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "Lily and I found her unconscious on the floor of our dormitory. We brought her straight to the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey has been keeping an eye on her all night. But she…" Marlene hesitated, looking extremely worried. "She hasn't woken up yet. We still don't know what's wrong with her."

Sirius was on his feet in an instant. He scrambled to his dresser, pulling open all of his drawers in search of a clean shirt. "Well, it had to have been something! How was she at dinner? Did she seem okay?"

"Yes," Marlene said, her voice quivering. "As far as I remember, she was completely fine. She was a little quiet after dinner, but… I dunno…" her voice broke as she gasped out a dry sob. "I don't know how this happened."

"Everything okay, guys?" James peered sleepily out from behind his four-poster's curtains.

"Emmeline's really sick. I have to go to her," Sirius unembarrassedly stripped off the robes he wore to bed so he could pull on a clean shirt and pants. Marlene glanced away modestly. "If I'm not back in time for Charms, tell Flitwick where I am."

"Sure thing…" James blinked, looking mildly concerned. "Hope everything's okay."

"Yeah, me too," Sirius, now fully dressed, quickly grabbed his wand from his nightstand and turned to Marlene. "C'mon, let's go."

The two of them dashed down the stairs and out the portrait hole, making their swift way through the dark and silent castle toward the hospital wing. Sirius began badgering Marlene for information as they hurried along:

"How has she been? You said she hadn't woken up yet?"

"No," Marlene said as they rounded a corner. "She's been unconscious, but she's been having strange fits all night. Madam Pomfrey doesn't even know what's wrong with her, so she's gone to get Professor Dumbledore."

Sirius let out a guttural breath, almost like a sob. He quickened his pace. "Why didn't you come and get me sooner? I could have been there!" He tried not to think of what other horrors might have happened to his girlfriend while he was sleeping in peaceful ignorance upstairs.

"You were in detention, and Lily and I needed to stay with her," Marlene insisted, panting as she tried to keep up with him. "Also it was way past curfew, so we weren't allowed to be out in the corridors. I came to get you as soon as I was able."

They had finally reached the hospital wing, and Sirius and Marlene burst through the doors. The wing was empty, save for two people at the far end. Lily glanced up from where she was sitting near Emmeline's bed, looking just as anxious and exhausted as Marlene.

Sirius felt his heart stop in his throat when he saw Emmeline, and he dashed over to them. "Em!" He stopped at her bedside, gazing down at her with wide eyes.

There she lay, her body pale and unmoving – she was still in her robes from the day before, and her blonde hair fanned out over her pillow, snarled and unkempt. She lay slightly on her side, her knees bent and her face turned to the right, her mouth gaping open a bit. Her lips were pale blue, while her skin was white as a sheet. She was still breathing, though the sounds were faint and strained.

Sirius felt his heart break into about a million pieces – how did his sweet, kind, beautiful Emmeline become this broken?

"Careful," Lily whispered when Sirius dropped to his knees beside Emmeline, taking her pale hand in both of his. "She's been pretty unstable all night."

Sirius caressed her lifeless fingers, his throat constricting painfully. She was still warm, which he took a small amount of solace in. "Em…" he whispered shakily, willing her to hear him. He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. "Emmeline, it's me. Say something."

Emmeline just lay there, silent and unmoving. Marlene and Lily looked at each other, their expressions solemn.

The hospital wing doors burst open again, and they all turned to see Madam Pomfrey in a tartan dressing gown striding into the ward with a fully dressed Professor Dumbledore. Marlene and Lily stood at attention while Sirius stayed kneeling at Emmeline's side.

"There she is," Madam Pomfrey said briskly, leading Dumbledore to Emmeline's bed. Marlene and Lily stepped aside to give them space. Dumbledore moved forward, gazing concernedly down at Emmeline's lifeless face, before reaching out and placing a comforting hand on Sirius's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Sirius," he said gently when Sirius didn't move. "I know you're concerned about Miss Vance – we all are. But Madam Pomfrey has asked me to examine her, and I need to if we are to figure out what is wrong. It should only take a moment."

Sirius really didn't want to let go of Emmeline's hand, but he understood that Dumbledore was only there to help. He reluctantly got up and moved over to stand beside Marlene and Lily. He saw Madam Pomfrey give him an odd look – she was clearly wondering why he was there, but he ignored her.

Dumbledore pulled out his wand and leaned over Emmeline, slowly sweeping his wand over her entire body and muttering some sort of incantation under his breath. He did this for about a minute before he brought his left hand up and gently pressed his palm to her forehead. The others all watched him work in complete silence.

After a moment, Dumbledore removed his hand, and Emmeline's body began to quiver and shake, her breathing becoming more ragged. Her limbs all shuddered and bent at odd angles before her entire body suddenly convulsed, her torso bucking almost completely off the bed. Sirius, horrified, gave a strangled cry –

"_What've you done to her?!_" he yelled, advancing toward the bed, but Marlene and Lily held him back by his arms. Just as soon as it happened, Emmeline's seizure had ended, and her body settled back into its dissociative state. She looked paler than she did before, somehow, and a frothy white substance was now trickling out of her mouth and down her cheek.

Sirius let out a stifled moan, and he buried his face in his hands, unable to look at Emmeline in such a wretched condition. That was horrible to watch, and he wished desperately he could wake up from this nightmare. Marlene and Lily were still clutching his arms, their faces somber.

"You were correct, Poppy – she has most certainly been poisoned," Dumbledore said quietly after a moment. Marlene and Lily gasped, and Sirius brought his face up to stare at him.

"But I had already given her a bezoar," Madam Pomfrey frowned. "If she really had been poisoned, why hasn't she responded to the treatment?"

"As for that, I cannot say," Dumbledore gazed down at Emmeline. "Her body does not seem to recognize the poison, and that most likely is why she is in this state. She cannot succumb to it, but she cannot reject it either."

"Well, just get it out of her!" Sirius shouted, desperate for a solution to this awful situation.

"Until we know exactly what has poisoned her, we cannot treat anything," Dumbledore said gravely. "We can stabilize her so that she does not proceed to get any worse, but until we find the antidote, she will have to remain asleep."

Lily let out a small whimper while Marlene pressed a shaky hand to her mouth, trying to quell her anguish. Sirius felt the heavy weight of hopelessness crush his heart into submission – if Dumbledore couldn't help her, who could?

Dumbledore then turned to Madam Pomfrey. "I will meet with Horace to discuss different poisons which might have caused this. Perhaps he will know of an antidote that I am yet unaware of. As for you three…" Dumbledore looked over his half-moon spectacles at Sirius, Marlene, and Lily. "You are excused from classes for today, that is, if you wish to stay here with Miss Vance. I will let the other professors know what has happened." He hesitated, then went on, his voice grave and quiet. "There is not any evidence of foul play. However, if any of you are aware of someone who may wish to harm Emmeline in some way, do not hesitate to tell us. It may just save her life."

Dumbledore gave a slight bow and left, leaving the others to stare after him or at each other while considering his words.

"Poisoned?" Marlene gazed uneasily at Emmeline as Madam Pomfrey strode into her office. "Who would want to poison Emmeline?"

"It could have just been an accident," Lily said reasonably, though her brow was furrowed. "Dumbledore said there wasn't any evidence of foul play."

"Not yet," Sirius said darkly. When Dumbledore had mentioned poison, a horrible notion had entered his brain. He grit his teeth, trying to suppress his mounting rage, while Marlene and Lily stared at him.

"Do you know someone who could've done this?" Marlene whispered, looking shocked.

Sirius nodded, scowling. "Regulus – my piece of shit brother."

Lily raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Regulus? Why would he want to poison Emmeline?"

Sirius began to explain the circumstances of his detention yesterday, trying all the while to control his anger. Marlene and Lily stared at him before glancing at each other.

"So…" Marlene frowned, turning back to Sirius. "Because Regulus insulted Emmeline, and you attacked him for it, you think he would try to get revenge on you by poisoning her?" Her expression was dubious. "That seems like a bit of a reach."

"He called her a Mudblood," Sirius insisted, his expression darkening further. "He's just like the rest of my family – he looks down on anyone who's even remotely Muggle-born!"

"But poisoning her?" Lily frowned. "Why would he do _that_ specifically?"

"I don't know!" Sirius burst out, his frustration evident. He turned back to Emmeline, looking down at her unconscious form on the bed, and angry tears welled up in his eyes. "But it had to have been _someone_…!"

"Let's not jump to any conclusions," Lily placated him, her voice strained. "We're all upset and exhausted right now, but that doesn't mean we should let our emotions get the better of us. Dumbledore said Emmeline will be okay so long as she stays asleep – we should all just take a couple hours to regroup, and if you still think your brother had anything to do with this, Sirius, then we'll let Dumbledore know."

Marlene nodded in agreement. "Lily's right. We need to get our thoughts together before we do anything drastic."

Sirius said nothing. He walked over to Emmeline's bedside and sat down in the chair Lily had vacated, gazing down at Emmeline's tranquil face. He knew in his heart Regulus had something to do with this – since Sirius had walked out on the family, they all seemed determined to make his life as miserable as possible. This was just their latest form of attack, he knew.

Marlene and Lily began talking to each other in low voices, and Sirius didn't bother to listen; he took Emmeline's hand in his own once again, wishing more than anything he could find a way to make her better. Burning hatred for his brother and soul-wrenching sadness for Emmeline both fought for dominance in his heart, and so far it was a stalemate. Sirius closed his eyes, almost wishing he was back in bed so he could just forget everything.

Lily hesitantly approached him, and Sirius opened his eyes. "Marlene and I were going to go upstairs to wash and change. Maybe grab a little breakfast before we come back here. Did you want to–?"

"I'll stay," Sirius overrode her firmly, not looking up, and Lily quieted. There was a moment where neither of them said anything, and Lily silently retreated. He still didn't look up as she and Marlene walked out of the hospital wing and closed the doors behind them.

Once they were gone, Sirius immediately leaned forward and buried his face in his hands. Try as he might to keep the tidal wave of emotion he felt at bay, there was just no getting around one truly horrible notion he couldn't bring himself to tell even Marlene and Lily:

The fact that he, Sirius, was the reason Emmeline was like this made the tears spring unbidden to his eyes, permitting no comfort whatsoever to soothe his anguish.

* * *

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think! Thanks a bunch:)**


	27. Chapter 27

**glazedwater: **Aw, thank you! Hm… that's a good question. I guess you'll have to find out!:)

**iceandfire 105: **Thanks! I guess you'll see in this next chapter:) Enjoy!

**Tuesday**

**February 6****th**

**5:24 pm**

**Hospital Wing**

* * *

The next twelve hours commenced at a tortuously slow pace. Thanks to Dumbledore's pardon, Sirius, Marlene and Lily were allowed to skip class that day and remain at Emmeline's bedside. However, there was little they could do except hold her lifeless hand and look glumly into her still face. Marlene and Lily took turns napping in the chair beside her bed, while Sirius stayed determinedly awake, waiting fruitlessly for the moment when Emmeline would wake up or when someone would bring news about Regulus. James, Peter, Remus, and Amal stopped by the hospital wing together around dinnertime to check on them, and to be filled in on exactly what was happening.

"But why would Regulus want to poison Emmeline?" Amal frowned after Marlene explained the situation to them. Remus and James glanced at each other, looking grim.

"We're not sure. Except…" Lily hesitated, glancing uneasily over at Sirius. He pressed his lips together.

"What is it?" James frowned at his best friend, who continued to stare down at Emmeline's tranquil face.

"He thinks Regulus wanted revenge," Marlene elaborated quietly. "For their fight yesterday. Sirius told Dumbledore about his suspicions a few hours ago, and he and Slughorn are questioning Regulus in his office right now. We're not sure if there was any foul play, however," she added quickly.

"He did it," Sirius suddenly said darkly. The others all turned to stare at him, and he continued to glare down at his girlfriend's lifeless face. "I know he did."

The others said nothing. They didn't really have the same conviction that Sirius had, but none of them could really think of anyone else who might have hurt Emmeline. Remus, James, and Peter all gazed at Sirius sadly, and the three of them stayed for a couple more minutes before eventually saying goodbye, promising to come back the following day. Amal gave Marlene a hug and a peck on the cheek before departing, looking just as despondent as the others as they made their way out into the corridor together.

"I think I'm going to go back to the common room," Lily said quietly, and she got to her feet. "Get some work done. Would either of you like to come with me?"

Marlene and Sirius both shook their heads, and Lily pressed her lips together before turning and heading for the door by herself. In a few seconds she was gone, and only Marlene and Sirius were left to keep Emmeline company.

~/~

As determined as Sirius was to stay awake in case there was some new development, even he couldn't function for twenty-four hours straight on only three hours of sleep. Pretty soon after the others had left, Sirius nodded off, still sitting in the chair beside Emmeline's bed and his hand still resting lightly on hers. Marlene remained awake, pacing at the foot of Emmeline's bed and waiting anxiously for Dumbledore to return with the news about Regulus.

The hospital wing doors opened quietly, and Marlene stopped to see who had arrived. It wasn't Dumbledore, though – it was Siobhan.

She stepped slowly into the ward, glancing around before noticing the others near the back. She froze, staring at them with wide eyes for a second before edging a little further in. Marlene just gazed at her impassively, saying nothing – she wasn't really in the mood to deal with this girl right now.

Siobhan ignored Marlene, however, as she shuffled slowly toward Emmeline's bed, gazing down at her lifeless form with wide eyes. Marlene looked at Emmeline too, waiting for Siobhan to say something.

"How is she?" Siobhan asked quietly after a few moments.

"Not well," Marlene whispered, not bothering to look over at her. Sirius still slept soundly at Emmeline's side. "Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore haven't been able to figure out what's wrong yet, but they believe she was poisoned."

Siobhan didn't say anything; Marlene glanced up and saw her look down at her feet and blink rapidly. Marlene frowned, but said nothing.

Several seconds passed in silence, and finally Marlene felt she ought to say something. She noticed Siobhan was still standing. "Would you like to sit down?"

Siobhan gave a start and glanced up at Marlene, her eyes wide and unreadable. She swallowed. "No…" She took a step back. "No. I, erm… I have to go."

She hesitated another second, her eyes still trained on Emmeline, before finally tearing her gaze away and moving stiffly toward the door, not looking back. Marlene watched her walk away, her brow furrowed slightly. As little as she liked Siobhan, she couldn't help but notice that she was acting a bit weird. Maybe this was her way of showing concern?

A few moments later, however, another thought occurred to Marlene; just a glimmer of a notion. But as soon as it entered her mind, it couldn't escape, and she could only stare at the hospital wing doors while the cogs in her mind began to slowly but surely click together. Her heart stopped for a second, and her breath hitched: the tepid notion of Regulus being Emmeline's poisoner evaporated completely when she realized with a sudden, shining clarity who must have done it…

Marlene's whole body quivered; not from fear, but from burning, all-consuming rage. She was angry – angrier than she'd ever thought possible – at the girl who had caused nothing but problems for her since day one. And now – oh, now she had gone too far.

_How dare she? _

Marlene's wand was suddenly in her hand, gripping the wood like a weapon, and it was with little to no thought about what she was doing when, without even waking Sirius, she began to stride with purpose toward the doors, on a hunt for revenge.

She stepped out of the hospital wing doors into the corridor and glanced around, seeing no one. She turned right and walked swiftly down the empty hallway; after turning a corner, she saw Siobhan alone at the other end, walking with her back to her. Silently, Marlene stalked after her quarry, her furious eyes trained solely on the back of Siobhan's immaculate head.

When Marlene was only a couple feet away, Siobhan seemed to have heard something, for she suddenly whipped around, her eyes round as saucers as they landed on Marlene.

"Wha – ?"

Without so much as a greeting, Marlene reached out and grabbed Siobhan by the collar of her robes, pulling it in a vice-like grip while dragging her to a nearby empty classroom.

"_Hey_! HEY – LET GO OF ME!" Siobhan shrieked, trying frantically to pull free from Marlene's grasp. Marlene ignored her cries as she yanked her into the empty classroom, throwing her on the ground before slamming the door shut behind them. Siobhan looked up, her expression wild and terrified.

"HELP…!" She screamed, but Marlene shot a Silencing Charm at the door, making any and all sounds inescapable. Siobhan quailed, staring up into Marlene's furious eyes.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Siobhan said shrilly, trying frantically to search for her wand. Marlene pointed her own wand at her:

"_Expelliarmus!_"

Siobhan's wand shot out of her fumbling hands and Marlene caught it before throwing it to the side, her eyes still blazing with unadulterated anger. Siobhan quivered, looking rightly terrified. Marlene pointed her wand straight at Siobhan's heart, and couldn't hold back any longer: "WHAT DID YOU GIVE TO EMMELINE?!"

All the blood drained from Siobhan's face. She looked too terrified to speak; with an angry cry, Marlene jabbed her wand at her, sending her shooting across the floor into the first row of desks. Siobhan cried out as several wooden desks and chairs toppled over and fell onto her.

"ANSWER ME!" Marlene hollered, thrusting her wand up so the desks all lifted up and away from her. Marlene stalked toward Siobhan, still cowering in a heap on the floor, and pointed her wand at her again, ready for another attack.

"Please – stop…" Siobhan whispered with a restrained sob, raising her arms up and shielding herself from any other blows Marlene would try to give to her. But Marlene hardly cared – Siobhan had gone way over the line, and now she was going to pay. She kept her wand trained on her.

"You poisoned her," Marlene ground out, her teeth clenched. Her wand hand was shaking from sheer anger. "Didn't you?"

"No!"

Marlene thrust her wand up again, lifting Siobhan's whole body up into the air so her feet barely grazed the floor. She then jabbed her wand, and Siobhan flew across the room like a rag doll before hitting the back wall with a nasty thud. "DON'T LIE!"

Siobhan cried out; Marlene released her so she had control of her faculties again, but with a wand still pointed at her, she didn't dare move. She gazed at Marlene, looking trapped. "Please – stop! Why are you doing this?"

"You know why!" Marlene approached Siobhan, her wand still trained on her. "You poisoned Emmeline! You were jealous of her relationship with Sirius, and so you got your revenge by poisoning her!" Marlene's voice shook, and her eyes filled with angry tears. She clenched her teeth. "She was your _friend_. And you poisoned her!"

"That's ridiculous," Siobhan whimpered, but her expression betrayed her – she looked unmistakably guilty.

"What was it?" Marlene demanded, her eyes burning. "What did you give her?"

Siobhan's lip quivered. "I-I didn't… she… she wasn't – "

"She wasn't what?" Marlene snapped, gripping her wand tighter. Siobhan tensed. "She wasn't supposed to end up with Sirius? Wasn't supposed to have him fall for her? Tell me, Siobhan – what hare-brained rationale did you have for doing what you did to her?! Because I'd _really _like to know!"

"I'm sorry!" Siobhan sobbed, looking rather ugly for a girl usually so beautiful. "I didn't think it would hurt her that much!"

Marlene's eyes widened angrily. "_What_ wouldn't hurt her?"

Siobhan's lip quivered, and after a moment whispered: "The original potion we made. From Slughorn's class."

Marlene blinked, staggered. For a moment, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "The faulty one?"

Siobhan said nothing, and Marlene let out a winded gasp. It all made sense now. But how could Siobhan have been so stupid? Bad potions were dangerously unpredictable when consumed! And because it was an original one… Marlene pressed her lips together, her anger mounting ever higher.

"What did you think _would_ happen, Siobhan? You thought she would just feel a little nauseous or something?" Marlene's voice dripped with vicious sarcasm. "You figured the untested, untried, possibly lethal faulty potion you made would just give her a little tummy-ache?"

"I didn't think – " Siobhan started to say, but Marlene, furious, cut her off with a loud bang and orange sparks shooting out of her wand.

"NO, YOU DIDN'T _THINK_!" Marlene yelled, and Siobhan shrunk against the wall. "You never _think_! You didn't even consider the fact that you might be in the wrong! That you could have really hurt Emmeline! That you could have _killed_ her!"

Siobhan stared wide-eyed at Marlene, as if she was finally beginning to grasp the seriousness of her actions. Marlene seethed – she was so goddamn sick of Siobhan Burke. It was time to let her have it.

"You know why no one likes you, Siobhan? It's because you blame _everyone_ else for all of your problems! You blame other students for spells you can't learn, you blame the professors for all the classes you're failing, and now you blame Emmeline for ruining your hypothetical relationship with Sirius. Well, you know what? No more. You can't do spells because you don't bother to practice. You fail all your classes because you're just not that smart – even a first-year student could tell you a faulty potion should never be consumed under any circumstances! And the reason Sirius fell for Emmeline and not for you…" Marlene's eyes flashed. "Is because Emmeline is absolutely _nothing_ like you."

Siobhan didn't say anything to that. She looked utterly broken and defeated – something Marlene noted with a feeling of grim satisfaction. It was about time Siobhan saw herself in the light everyone else saw her in.

"What ingredients did you use in the faulty potion?" Marlene asked after a moment in a voice of forced calm. "I need to tell Madam Pomfrey."

Siobhan stared at her for a moment, almost on the verge of tears, before slowly reaching into her pocket and pulling out a folded piece of parchment. She held it out cautiously.

"I was planning on showing her…" Siobhan said weakly as Marlene snatched the parchment from her hand. She unfolded it and scanned its contents, which was a list of potions ingredients. Marlene looked up and glared at Siobhan for a second before whirling around and stalking toward the door without another word. There was nothing else she wanted to say.

"Please," Siobhan muttered, and Marlene stopped. "Don't tell Emmeline."

Marlene turned around and glared back at Siobhan, who was looking utterly and completely sorry. Marlene clenched her jaw, compassion far from her heart at the moment.

"I won't tell her…" Marlene said, and Siobhan's eyes widened in surprise. "But in return, I don't want you speaking to Emmeline anymore. I mean it – no talking to her, no studying with her, no calling her 'Emmy'. You no longer exist to her, understand? She deserves a better friend than you. And you don't deserve to have a friend at all," she spit out coldly.

Siobhan lowered her eyes, and Marlene whirled around and headed towards the door, not looking back. She removed the Silencing Charm before walking out, slamming the door behind her with a resounding thud.

Marlene took a few steps down the corridor before halting to a stop. She was shaking a little – that was the most intense confrontation she had ever had. A part of her still couldn't believe what had happened, and a much larger part of her wished more than anything that it just didn't happen at all.

Tears ran down her face, and she wiped them away roughly with the heel of her palm before taking a deep breath and continuing down the corridor toward the hospital wing.

* * *

**Holy crap, writing this felt wayy too satisfying lol **

**Please leave a review! Next chapter should be up in a couple weeks (I have finals this week and next, so I will try to write a little, but I can't make any promises). ****Thanks for understanding:) And have a great rest of the week!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Aphrodite: **Thanks for your review! Yeah, there are a lot of abandoned Sirius/Emmeline fics out there. Oh well, I'm happy to finish this one for you:) Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**glazedwater: **Thanks! Yes you were right – congrats:) Lol and don't worry, you spelled it correctly! Enjoy this next chapter!

**iceandfire 105: **Yes indeed! But I'm glad you liked it:) Hope you like this next chapter!

**Wednesday**

**February 7****th**

**11:48 am**

**Hospital Wing**

* * *

Darkness – oppressive, horrible, impenetrable darkness. It pressed down on her, choking her insides and atrophying her muscles, forcing her aching body into submission. The discomfort turned to pain, and the pain turned to agony. She wanted to cry out for help, but her voice wasn't working – she was completely trapped. What was she to do? Her fear mounted… there was no way out from this torture. She strained her body this way and that, but the darkness kept her firmly oppressed. All hope was lost…

Then suddenly, miraculously… the darkness lifted. She was free! She could breathe again, and her body seemed lighter. She stood up, feeling as weightless as a feather – this was fantastic! Her feet lifted off the ground, and suddenly she was flying. Up and up she soared, through the clouds and into the glorious sunlight, higher and higher. Her heart nearly burst from sheer delight as she flew upward. Up there was joy… up there was freedom…

Emmeline slowly blinked open her eyes, feeling tired and sore. Sunlight streamed through the windows, and she squinted, trying to get her bearings. After a moment, she dimly realized she was in a bed in the hospital wing.

_The hospital wing?_

She blinked a few more times and tried to raise her head up. It was the middle of the day, and when she looked to her left, she saw Sirius napping in a chair beside her bed. While her mind still swum with exhausted confusion, she smiled slightly – in spite of everything, she was pleased to see him.

"Oh, good. You're awake."

Madam Pomfrey bustled into the ward from her office, holding several vials of colorful potions in her hands. She walked over to Emmeline's bedside and set the vials down on her nightstand, smiling kindly at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay," Emmeline mumbled as Madam Pomfrey placed a hand on her forehead to check her temperature. She nodded in satisfaction.

"Excellent. It seems as if your fever is gone. Here," she reached over and picked up one of the vials, a purple one. She opened it and handed it to Emmeline. "The Restorative Draught seems to be the one that worked the best. Drink up."

Emmeline was very confused, but took the potion anyway. It was a small vial, so she downed it easily; warmth immediately spread to all of her limbs, invigorating her. Madam Pomfrey smiled in satisfaction.

"What happened to me, exactly? Emmeline asked, her voice a bit stronger now. Madam Pomfrey was about to answer when Sirius suddenly began to shift in his sleep. Emmeline looked at him as he slowly stretched, blinking his eyes open. He yawned and rubbed his eyes with his right hand, and Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips in disapproval.

"Miss Vance is awake now, Mr. Black. Are you happy?" She sounded heartily annoyed, but Sirius ignored her – he quickly jumped up straighter in his seat, turning to Emmeline. His face suddenly broke out into a wide grin.

"Em!"

Emmeline smiled, her heart fluttering. It was really good to see him. "Hi."

"Oh, I've missed you so much!" he moved forward and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. Emmeline grinned and hugged him back, feeling comforted by his warm embrace. He looked a bit ragged and unkempt, and she realized he must have stayed by her side overnight. Her heart clenched with affection for him.

"Do you know what happened to me?" she mumbled into his shoulder, and Sirius finally pulled away. He was gazing concernedly down at her.

"You don't remember anything?"

She shook her head. "I remember feeling really ill after dinner, and then going to bed early… but after that, nothing."

Sirius swallowed, looking upset. "Marlene and Lily found you passed out on the floor of your dormitory. They brought you to Madam Pomfrey, and you've been here for about two days now."

Emmeline was surprised, but before she could ask anything about that, the hospital wing doors opened, and Marlene strode in, carrying Emmeline's book bag. When she noticed Emmeline sitting upright, her face broke out into a huge grin.

"Em!" She squealed excitedly, rushing toward her. "You're awake! Why didn't you tell me?" she admonished Sirius as she stopped at the bedside.

"She just woke up," Sirius said defensively. "And so did I, for that matter…"

"Is that all the homework I missed?" Emmeline asked, looking at her bag on Marlene's shoulder.

"Yeah, I went and talked to all of your teachers," Marlene hoisted the heavy bag up. "Flitwick and Slughorn forgave your missed homework from their classes, but the others weren't so kind."

"Thanks," Emmeline smiled sardonically. "So do _you_ know what happened to me?"

Sirius was the one who spoke up, however: "It was Marlene who figured it out actually. Right, Marlene?" He grinned up at her, and Marlene looked away, uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I did," she said quietly.

"Really?" Emmeline stared up at her best friend. Marlene didn't say anything, and so Sirius spoke up again:

"Yeah… she figured out you must've accidentally consumed the potion you and Siobhan made before dinner that day. The original one."

Emmeline was shocked to hear that. She stared at Sirius in disbelief. "You're saying I drank a faulty potion?!"

"By accident," Marlene said quickly, her expression troubled. Emmeline turned to her, still unable to believe it.

"But… but that's… _insane_," she shook her head. "It's mad! I'd never drink a faulty potion, even by accident!"

"It's more common than you think," Sirius said reasonably. "I looked it up last night, and there have been thousands of cases of people accidentally consuming potion ingredients and getting sick from them. Faulty potions, too – people spill them on themselves or forget to wash their hands after making them. You were just a little absent-minded, that's all."

Emmeline said nothing, though she continued to frown. She still couldn't believe she could be so stupid as to accidentally consume even a little bit of that potion she and Siobhan made. But she must have done it – there was no other explanation, was there?

"Well… I suppose I'll have to watch myself in the future," Emmeline shook her head bemusedly. "At least it wasn't food poisoning, though," she added with a rueful smile.

Marlene quickly looked up at Emmeline. "Why would you say that?"

Emmeline shrugged. "I dunno. It would've make sense, though, wouldn't it? I started feeling really ill after dinner. And the food we ate was disgusting."

"It was?" Marlene frowned, and Emmeline nodded, pulling a face.

"Yeah, couldn't you tell? It tasted really foul. Even the pumpkin juice…" Emmeline shivered.

Strangely, Marlene's eyes flashed with what seemed like an unpleasant thought, and her expression darkened. "Hm," she said quietly, looking away. "I'll have to ask her about that…" she muttered under her breath. Emmeline frowned in confusion, but Marlene didn't elaborate; she set Emmeline's backpack down beside her bed before saying a hasty goodbye, claiming she had Charms in ten minutes.

"Hm… she's been acting a bit weird lately," Sirius said, frowning after Marlene as she walked out of the hospital wing doors.

"Well, it's been a weird few days," Emmeline muttered, and Sirius grinned wryly.

"True."

Emmeline looked at him and saw he was now gazing at her with his eyes full of affection. Emmeline smiled, and he suddenly moved forward so he could hug her again, kissing her cheek before holding her tightly in his arms. Emmeline hugged him back, unable to fight back a smile.

"I'm really happy you're still with us, Em," he said quietly, and Emmeline's heart sped up.

"Me too. I can't believe you stayed with me the whole time," Emmeline pulled away so she could gaze into Sirius's eyes. Her heart clenched with deep emotion for him, and tears pricked at her eyes. She wanted to let him know how much he meant to her. "I'm so lucky to have you, Sirius."

Sirius blinked, staring at her. He seemed unsure of what to say, and after a moment, he shook his head slightly, gazing at her what seemed like disbelief. "You really feel that way?"

"Of course," Emmeline looked affectionately up at him. "You're always so sweet and considerate – it's what I've always really liked about you. You have a good heart, Sirius. I don't know what I did to deserve a guy like you."

Sirius continued to stare at her, as if hardly believing what he was hearing. "Emmeline, I…" he shook his head incredulously. "I always thought that _I _didn't deserve _you_. I… I'm not that great of a guy, y'know." He looked rather guilty. "I mean, you already know about my history with girls. And, to own the truth, I didn't even know who you were at the beginning of the school year…"

Emmeline had to laugh at his honesty. "Really? Well, I s'pose that makes sense – we hadn't really talked at all before this year, hadn't we? But hey," she added reassuringly, for she noticed Sirius was looking utterly dejected. "We know each other now, don't we? Our past doesn't matter – it's our future together that counts. Doesn't it?"

Sirius gazed at her, his eyes filled with emotion. He managed a small smile before his face fell back into a thoughtful frown. "Yeah… but it's just that I hate the fact that I had never paid any attention to you before now. We had mutual friends, obviously, but I was too stupid to even see what was right in front of me. I think about what our relationship would be like if I was never such a thick-headed prat." He shook his head, "I think about that a lot," he added, a little quieter, and he glanced down at his hands.

Emmeline just stared at him. Sirius putting his heart out on his sleeve like that for her was very moving to say the least. Emmeline suddenly wanted to reassure him:

"I know I can be a bit naïve at times," she said quietly after a few moments, and Sirius looked up at her. "I've always been like that, and the people around me just got used to it. Marlene and Remus would sometimes try to help me out with it, but for the most part I would just get teased for being a gullible moron. I went along with life as a naïve idiot for most of my time here at Hogwarts." Emmeline blushed, glancing down at her lap. "It wasn't until this year…when I finally met you… that someone actually saw what I thought was my biggest flaw as the very thing that made me special."

For a few seconds Sirius didn't say anything, and Emmeline looked up at him. He was staring at her, his expression surprised and affected. Emmeline wasn't embarrassed for being honest with him, however – she knew how he felt about her. How she felt about him, too, was above and beyond anything she had ever felt with Reggie. She wanted him to know that.

After a moment, Sirius's shoulders relaxed, and he slowly began to smile. He suddenly leaned forward and took her face in his hands, kissing her deeply. He expressed all his feelings for her with his touch, and Emmeline couldn't help but smile happily against him.

"…You mean so much to me, Em," Sirius whispered, pulling away slightly so he could gaze down at her, his eyes blazing. "I never want you to change. But please, don't ever think of yourself as an idiot. I would never say that about you."

Emmeline couldn't help but smile, and she leaned forward so her nose gently brushed his. "Okay," she whispered before pecking him softly on the lips. Sirius smiled and pulled her into his arms again, burying his face in her neck.

"Good."

* * *

**Wednesday**

**February 7th **

**12:16 pm**

It had been a few months since they split up, and Reggie found that he missed Emmeline a lot. He initially thought he had made the right decision, splitting up with her – he was moving up into different social circles, and he felt his two-year-old relationship with Emmeline was just weighing him down. However, after thinking about it a bit, he realized he and Emmeline had had a great thing going. Emmeline was the sweetest girl ever, and no amount of high social status was going to change that about her.

Reggie had been trying to talk to Emmeline for a few weeks now, but she had been deliberately avoiding him. He knew he had been a jerk to her, and even though he had technically been seeing Samantha Pedderton for the past month or so, he still found he had an urge to reconnect with Emmeline again.

He felt he owed it to her – they did date for over two years, after all.

Reggie had heard from his buddy Marion, who had heard from his girlfriend Sally, who had been talking to Professor Slughorn after class today, that Emmeline was in the hospital wing. Reggie was now striding purposefully down the corridor to see her, anxious to know how she was. He didn't know what had happened to her, but he was determined to at least be there for her, to show that he could still be a considerate boyfriend.

He finally reached the doors to the hospital wing, which were slightly ajar. He peered into the ward, glancing around before noticing her at the other end. He froze.

Emmeline was sitting up in her bed and embracing Sirius Black, who was with her for some reason. She pulled back slightly to smile up at him, and he smiled back. He whispered something to her before he leaned in and – much to Reggie's horror – kissed her right on the lips. Emmeline kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck, and Black placed a hand gently on her cheek. Both of them kept smiling, unaware of anyone observing them in their moment together.

Reggie stared at them, deeply in shock.

_What the hell was this?_

He stepped back from the door, his heart caught in his throat. He couldn't believe what he was seeing – Emmeline and Sirius Black?! Infamous ladies-man Sirius Black? No, this had to be some sort of mistake. Emmeline wasn't the type of girl to get involved with a guy like Black, no matter how attractive he was. He was the type of two-timing jerk who girls like Emmeline were smart enough to stay away from. What was really going on?

Reggie scowled; anger and indignation surged up inside of him, and he quickly swiveled around and stalked away. This just had to be a scheme on Emmeline's part – perhaps a ploy to become more popular like he, Reggie, was. That was the only thing that made any sense, and Reggie clung on to that idea as he strode away down the corridor.

If Emmeline was indeed trying to become more popular through associating herself with Black, then, Reggie thought, two could play at this game. If Emmeline wanted popularity, then she would have it.

He pressed his lips together in an firm line as he continued to walk away. He mentally constructed a plan – by this time tomorrow, everyone in Hogwarts would know about Black and Emmeline's little relationship. Then she'll see what sort of reputation she'd have.

* * *

**Sorry for the slight delay, but finals are over at last! Lol Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! :)**

**Please review!**


	29. Chapter 29

**iceandfire 105: **Don't we all? Oh well, I'm glad you liked the chapter – hope you like this next one too!

**morgana12: **I'm glad you're liking this story so far! I hope you continue to read and review:)

**Raingirl4513: **Thanks so much! Here's the next chapter for you – enjoy:)

**Friday**

**February 9****th**

**6:34 pm**

**Great Hall**

* * *

News of it spread over Wednesday, and by Friday afternoon, practically everybody at Hogwarts knew that Sirius Black was officially off the market. As for who the lucky girl was, however, very few people actually knew the details – apparently, she was just some Gryffindor girl who had done a dance at Slughorn's Christmas party or something. Only those who had gotten the news firsthand from Reggie Cartwell knew who Emmeline Vance actually was, and so they at least could appreciate the oddness of the whole situation.

Girls who had heard the news would follow Sirius around the halls and huddle together around the hospital wing doors during mealtimes, trying desperately to peer into the ward and get a glimpse of his elusive beau. Their initial reactions to seeing the sickly girl was vindictive pleasure, quickly noticing that she wasn't as gorgeous they had originally feared. However, their joy quickly turned to green-eyed jealousy when they noticed how uncharacteristically sweet and affectionate Sirius was to her, something none of them had ever seen from him in all their years of stalking him.

Emmeline was initially unaware of all this attention, however. She was more concerned with getting herself better over Thursday so she could return to class with everyone else by Friday. Therefore, it was a bit of a shock for her on Friday at dinner, when she realized people (mostly girls) were constantly staring at her or whispering behind her back.

"Was my mysterious illness really that interesting to everyone?" Emmeline frowned as a group of fifth-year Hufflepuff girls passed her by in the Great Hall, giving her not-so-subtle glances and whispers. "I didn't realize the news spread so quickly."

"They're talking about you and Sirius," Marlene explained, helping herself to some mashed potatoes. "The girls sitting next to me in Ancient Runes wouldn't shut up about you two."

"Me and Sirius?" Emmeline looked perplexed; she exchanged a glance with Sirius sitting across from her. "You mean our relationship?"

"What else would it be?" Sirius frowned. "I wonder how they all found out, though."

"Maybe your fan club passed by the hospital wing and saw you with her," Marlene suggested, giving Sirius a scrutinizing look. "You're not embarrassed, are you?"

"Why would I be embarrassed? I'm proud to be Emmeline's boyfriend!" Sirius looked affronted, and Emmeline blushed, smiling to herself. "I just don't want some annoying, jealous fangirl giving her trouble, that's all."

Marlene's expression suddenly darkened. "I doubt that'll be a problem anymore," she muttered under her breath. Sirius heard her, however, and stared at her questioningly.

"I don't care what other girls say about me," Emmeline said firmly, stabbing a green bean with her fork. "It's all just gossip, anyway."

"It doesn't bother you?" Sirius frowned at her, sounding surprised, and Emmeline shrugged.

"It'll be annoying, sure, but the talk will die down soon enough." She suddenly grinned at him. "I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to date you, Black."

The others laughed, and Sirius beamed at her. "Well I'm glad you're up for a challenge, Vance."

"Always."

"Oh stop flirting, you two," Marlene rolled her eyes at them good-naturedly, and Sirius and Emmeline laughed.

"Well, Wormtail and I are going to the library to finish up that Charms essay," Remus grinned, standing up from the table with Peter. "Anybody want to join us?"

"No thanks. I'm almost finished with mine," Lily said as she poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice. Remus and Peter walked away.

"I finished my essay last night," James said, putting a dinner roll on his plate. "Did you want to borrow my notes, Lily?"

His simple question was surprisingly sincere, and Lily looked at him, slightly taken aback. "Erm… no, I'm good. Thank you, though."

"Sirius," Emmeline said suddenly, and nodded toward the doors leading to the entrance hall. Everyone turned to look, and they all saw Regulus Black walking out of the Great Hall by himself. Sirius turned to look at Emmeline with a stony grimace.

"Do I have to?"

Emmeline nodded, looking serious. "You need to apologize to him. It's the right thing to do."

"He might've poisoned you," Sirius muttered petulantly, glaring down at his dinner plate.

"But he didn't. So you should apologize for accusing him of it," Emmeline said firmly. When Sirius still didn't say anything, she added in a softer voice: "I'll come with you. It'll only take a minute, I promise."

Letting out a huge sigh, Sirius stared down at the table for a second before reluctantly dragging himself out of his seat. "Okay," he muttered, and Emmeline smiled widely at him.

"Thank you."

The two of them got up and moved toward the doors to the entrance hall, off to find Regulus, and the others could only stare as they walked away.

"Wow," James said after a moment, sounding utterly surprised. "Padfoot is actually going to apologize?"

"To his brother," Marlene raised her eyebrows. "That's a huge step."

"Emmeline's really had a significant influence on Sirius, hasn't she?" Lily noted, and James turned to stare incredulously at her.

"'Significant'? He's totally different! The old him would have _never_ apologized to anyone, let alone Regulus!"

"Well then, maybe it's a good thing," Lily countered. "Him apologizing is a sign that he's maturing, at least a little. I thought we all agreed Emmeline is good for him."

"She is," James said, his voice fading; after a second his face settled into a thoughtful frown. Lily and Marlene said nothing, and the three of them were silent for a little while after. They finished eating dinner, and after about twenty minutes, when Sirius and Emmeline hadn't returned, they decided to go and walk together back to the common room without them.

As the three of them wandered through the castle, they met up with a few fellow Gryffindor sixth-years. Pretty soon, Lily had broken away from Marlene and James to walk ahead with Dorcas Meadows and Bradley Trent, chatting merrily with them about their homework assignments.

"Is that really what girls expect?" James suddenly asked Marlene once they were by themselves. Marlene glanced over at him, and he was gazing at Lily walking ahead, his brow furrowed. "For guys to change?"

Marlene gazed at him for a moment before smiling sympathetically. "Not necessarily," she said gently, and James looked at her. "Although a guy who _wants_ to change for a girl might show how serious he is about her."

James continued to frown, going silent again. Marlene decided not to say anything.

"Sirius changed for Emmeline," He muttered after a moment. He sounded odd, and Marlene couldn't help but smile to herself. Whatever James was thinking, she felt sure Lily was going to find out one way or the other.

"He sure did."

* * *

**Saturday**

**February 10****th**

**8:42 am**

It was the next morning, and still relatively early, therefore most of the castle was still asleep. Sirius, however, currently strode alone down a corridor near the owlery, his face set and eyes blazing as he looked around. An official-looking letter was clutched in his hand.

He turned the corner where the owlery was, and saw her walking out of it. Finally – he had searched throughout Gryffindor Tower, the Great Hall, and the library, but Siobhan seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet. Now, however, here she was, and Sirius stalked toward her, clearly determined.

"'Morning Siobhan."

Siobhan, who was heading in the opposite direction, froze at the sound of his cold voice. She hesitantly turned around to meet his gaze.

"Er… hi," she muttered, sounding extremely nervous. Sirius stopped in front of her, his eyes stony.

"Can I have a word?"

Siobhan didn't say anything, and her expression grew terrified as he held up the letter that was in his hand.

"Care to explain this?"

Siobhan blinked, relaxing slightly. She stared at the letter. "What is it?"

"It's a letter from the Ministry of Magic. Do you know why I have it?"

Siobhan didn't say anything, but she looked very confused as to what Sirius was getting at.

He continued, "A few weeks ago, I submitted an inquiry to the Ministry because I suspected someone was tracking my mail. This morning, I got back _this_." He brought down the letter with a flourish. "Apparently, someone working in Owl Post has been tracking my mail since early December, and the Ministry employee who ordered it was named Gregory Burke."

Siobhan paled as she realized what he was talking about. Sirius cocked his head, "_Your_ last name is Burke, isn't it? I didn't realize your father worked for the Ministry."

Siobhan gulped, looking deeply uncomfortable. She remained silent, though her eyes darted around for an escape.

"Now, why would your father want to track the owl post of some Hogwarts student he's never met before? Not unless his stuck-up, psychopathic daughter had asked him to do it?"

Siobhan blinked rapidly, now staring down at her feet. She still hadn't said anything, and Sirius was getting angrier.

"What – nothing to say?" He bit out. "No excuse as to why you asked your own father to break all sorts of laws just so you could stalk me?"

"I…" Siobhan squeaked, opening her mouth uncertainly, but nothing else came out. She looked desperately uncomfortable.

"I just don't understand why," Sirius snapped furiously, throwing his hands up. Siobhan flinched. "Why the hell would you want to track my _mail_? What's the _point_?"

"I'm sorry," Siobhan rushed out, tears pricking her eyes. "It was… it was stupid of me…"

"Damn straight, it was!" Sirius shouted at her, thrusting the letter in her face again. "What on earth made you think it was good idea to violate my privacy like that?!"

Siobhan gazed at him for a moment, her eyes wide and apologetic, before saying in a quiet voice: "The book."

Sirius stared at her, taken aback by that answer. "What book?"

Siobhan turned to stare down at her feet, her voice pathetically small. "I… I overheard your conversation with Emmy – Emmeline – last December. About her mum and her Greengrass heritage." She bit her lip. "The next day I saw you in the common room writing a letter…" Siobhan's voice broke, and she shook her head like she was trying to get rid of a pesky fly. "I was angry and… and upset, and I… I know I shouldn't've done it…"

Sirius stared at her. "You knew that I was trying to get the book for Emmeline," he said quietly. Feeling rather uncomfortable, he turned away so he wasn't facing Siobhan anymore.

"She keeps it on her nightstand," Siobhan mumbled, closing her eyes regretfully. "I saw it every day, and it only made me angrier…"

Sirius gritted his jaw. "So you decided to have your father track my mail? In case I tried to have other gifts for Emmeline express delivered?" He still couldn't look at Siobhan, and his hands balled angrily into fists. "Do you realize how completely mad that is?"

Siobhan only stared down at her feet, remorseful. For several moments neither of them said anything, and Sirius pressed his lips together. While he was still furious at Siobhan for this extreme breach of privacy, he couldn't bring himself to completely eviscerate her. He slowly unclenched his fists.

"I'm sorry."

Siobhan blinked and, after a moment, looked up at him, confused. He finally turned around to face her, his expression set in stone.

"For leading you on."

Siobhan clearly didn't know what to say to that, and she only stared as Sirius continued, his eyes cast downward: "I was never actually interested in you, and I realize I led you to believe otherwise on multiple occasions. But I never intended to hurt your feelings, just like I never intended to fall for someone…" Sirius grimaced. "And yet it still happened. It took a long time, and I never thought I would end up here, but Emmeline now means more to me than I can possibly say." He stared straight at Siobhan as he spoke, and she went red. "We are completely committed to each other, and I intend to keep it that way for as long as possible. Understand?"

Siobhan nodded mutely, her cheeks still blazing red. She looked immensely embarrassed and uncomfortable, and Sirius wasn't so heartless as to want to prolong her anxiety. He had made his point, and he silently handed her his letter from the Ministry. Siobhan took it from him, understanding that he wanted the tracking to end; she nodded, and he turned around to walk away.

"...Oh, and just one more thing."

Sirius turned so he was facing Siobhan again, his expression impassive. "I assume the reason you've been acting like a frightened flobberworm these past few days is because Marlene had gotten ahold of you. So I'm just going to let you off with a warning... if you so much as lay a finger on Emmeline again, I will come after you and your father. Make no mistake," his eyes burned as he stared into Siobhan's shocked face. "You guys don't seem to have any regard for rules. You would do well to remember that neither do I."

* * *

**So sorry for the wait everyone - summer has officially started, and so have the summer jobs. Go figure.**

**A very special thanks to everyone who has supported this story throughout the months! I couldn't have written it without you:) It looks as if the next chapter will be my last for this story, and I am beginning to feel a little sentimental. But I suppose the sad goodbyes will have to wait until chapter 30.**

**In the meantime, however - review!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Raingirl4513: **Thanks! Sirius might be going a little hard on Siobhan – I don't really mind though lol. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like this last chapter!

**luise: **I do try to make them seem like a normal couple – I'm glad you think so! I hope you enjoy this last chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it:)

**iceandfire 105: **You bet! And also thank you so much for being my most faithful reviewer – it really meant a lot to me, and I hope you find this final chapter a decent end to this story:)

**glazedwater: **Aw, that's okay! I'm sorry you're sad, but I hope this last chapter will be a decent end to what I hope is a decent story:) Lol thank you for all your support, and enjoy!

* * *

_Be that as may be, she was in their song.  
Moreover her voice upon their voices crossed  
Had now persisted in the woods so long  
That probably it never would be lost.  
Never again would birds' song be the same.  
And to do that to birds was why she came._

_\- Robert Frost_

Months had gone by, and a great many things seemed to have happened within that time frame. One of the most notable was the final Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor: Ravenclaw were favorites for winning the Cup, but the Gryffindor team, captained by the indomitable James Potter, was able to pull ahead and slaughter the competition, two hundred twenty points to ten. Gryffindor had won the Cup in a landslide, and Ravenclaw had to suffer the agony of defeat. Reggie Cartwell, who had been considered Ravenclaw's Quidditch superstar for the majority of the school year, had now been ostracized by the other students for instigating one of the worst defeats in the Ravenclaw team's history.

The Gryffindor players were heralded as heroes throughout the school for a while afterward, and, emboldened by her very first Quidditch Cup victory, Clarisse Renley had asked James Potter out on a date. Everyone in Gryffindor Tower had heard about it, and those students quickly spread that bit of gossip around the school like wildfire. Much to their surprise and consternation, however, James had politely turned Clarisse down. No one really knew the reason as to why he did, and only when the other Marauders mercilessly teased him about it was when he mildly shrugged and said that while he thought Clarisse was exceptionally pretty, he didn't think it was wise to date teammates.

Strangely, the news of James's brush-off seemed to make Lily rather happy. While she and James had never exactly been on the friendliest of terms, lately he had been acting like less of a cocky bastard toward her and more like an actual nice guy. Perhaps he finally realized that that sort of stuck-up behavior didn't impress girls like Lily. The two of them had actually begun to develop a sort of friendship, which consisted of occasionally sitting together in class or sometimes studying in the common room. While James obviously wanted more with her, he seemed content enough at the moment to simply be in her good graces. Having observed the changes that had occurred in his best friend when pursuing Emmeline probably convinced him that it was okay to try to start out going for the friendship route when it came to real relationships.

Sirius and Emmeline, as expected, continued on with their own relationship in the following months. After Emmeline had recovered from her illness, her and Sirius's relationship seemed to have changed slightly. While neither of them felt any less affectionate toward the other, both of them were able to fall into the habits of a stable, happy couple, and forego the frequent snogging sessions they had had when they first started dating. This sort of "normal" relationship was still a bit of an adjustment on Sirius's part, seeing as he didn't exactly have as much experience in monogamy as Emmeline did. However, he seemed eager and ready as ever to pursue it – being a real boyfriend to Emmeline was better than he could have ever imagined. It wasn't until they had started going out officially that Sirius realized he had been doing it wrong for years: the days when he pursued girls like Siobhan or Isabel – girls who liked to tease and challenge him, thinking that that was all they could do to keep him interested – were gone forever. Emmeline, quite simply, was the sweetest person in the world, and that was more than enough for him.

Sirius found himself to be deliriously happy, because for the first time in his life, he knew what it felt like to be in love.

~/~

The rest of the school year passed by for the sixth-year Gryffindors in the ways that could only have been expected – with tons of difficult homework, hours of fruitless studying, and finally, with exams at the end of May. Somehow, they all managed to make it through, and pretty soon, the time had come for them to head back home on the Hogwarts Express. What with the happy expectation of having two whole months away from school, they all eagerly packed up their trunks and said their farewells to one another, excitedly anticipating the brief respite they were going to have before they came back for their final year at Hogwarts together.

* * *

**June 24****th**

**5:32 pm**

**King's Cross Station**

"But what are all these numbers?"

"Digits," Amal explained. "It's my phone number."

"But who do I say them to?" Marlene frowned at the tiny slip of parchment he had handed to her. They and the rest of their friends were in a compartment together on the Hogwarts Express, which had just pulled into Platform Nine and Three Quarters. The students throughout the train were beginning to gather their things together in order to leave.

"You don't _say_ them – you type them on a telephone," Sirius told her, a note of condescension in his voice. Marlene scowled at him as the others snickered.

"Well, I'm sorry I don't have as much experience in Muggle things as you all apparently do," Marlene grumbled, stuffing the piece of parchment into her pocket before dragging her heavy trunk down from the top shelf of the compartment.

"It's okay, Marlene. Sirius is pretty mean to me too," Emmeline said with a grin. Sirius elbowed her, smirking.

"If you guys are done, we should really get moving," Remus said, pulling his rather shabby-looking trunk out the door of their compartment. The others acquiesced, and soon they were all making their slow progress down the train corridor with the other Hogwarts students, chatting happily about their plans for summer holiday. They crowded around together toward the exit, eagerly awaiting their long-anticipated reunions with friends and family.

"Mum – Dad!" Marlene shouted happily once off the train, seeing her parents and four little siblings nearby. She left her trunk and dashed toward them, eager to hug them all hello.

"I think I see my parents over there," Remus craned his neck to try to look over the crowd. "I'll go over and see. You coming, Prongs?"

"Er… no, I think I'll stay here a moment." James looked over at the train door, where Lily was struggling to carry her trunk down the steps. James quickly hurried to assist her, while Remus and Peter left the group to go seek out their own loved ones.

"You're sure it's okay if I visit you this summer?" Sirius asked Emmeline nervously once they were on the platform. Crowds of students, parents, children and noisy animals in cages surrounded them. "I mean, what if your father doesn't like me…?"

"Of course he'll like you," Emmeline giggled at Sirius's apprehension. "I told him all about you – he's really excited to meet you today!"

Sirius still looked anxious as he glanced around the platform. "But aren't fathers supposed to be really protective of their daughters? What if I say something awful by accident and he forbids me from ever seeing you again?"

"Relax," Emmeline moved toward him and kissed him on the cheek, reassuring. "Just be yourself, sweetheart. He'll love you… like I do," She stepped back and smiled at him, seeing him gazing at her with that look that never failed to make her heart flutter. Sirius moved in to press his lips against hers in a gentle kiss before pulling her into a tight embrace. He obviously sought her love and support, and Emmeline held him, offering both.

"Thank you," Sirius pulled back slightly to smile widely at her. "I feel better now."

"Good. Now can you go find us a cart for the trunks?" Emmeline asked sweetly. Sirius gave her a sarcastic glare, but grinned all the same. He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before walking off, saying he'll be back in a moment. Emmeline simply watched him walk away, a silly grin still plastered on her face.

"You guys are really together, then?"

Emmeline turned around at the sound of a voice, and her heart stopped – Reggie stood about ten feet away, alone and gazing at her with a blank expression on his face. Though the large crowd of students and parents surrounded them, the space between them was mostly empty, so Emmeline was sure he had just witnessed her little interaction with Sirius. She flushed.

"Reggie," she said, her eyes wide as she stared at him. He looked rightly miserable, and Emmeline knew he had probably been struggling with his fall from grace since the Quidditch Cup. While any sort of romantic affection she had for him had disappeared a long time ago, Emmeline's heart couldn't help but clench in sympathy as she looked upon his sad face.

Reggie took a tentative step toward her, his eyes apprehensive, unsure if he was allowed to approach her. Emmeline walked over to him, however, and saved him the trouble.

"Hi," she said quietly once she was in front of him. She had the decency to look embarrassed about her PDA with Sirius. "How are you?"

Reggie didn't say anything right away: his eyes looked over her face and her clothes, taking in her appearance. He smiled, a little sad.

"You've curled your hair," he observed, and Emmeline blushed. She had worn her hair like that regularly for almost two months now because she knew Sirius liked it.

"Yeah," she muttered, not knowing what else to say. He continued to look at her, as if assessing all of her new traits after being apart so long.

"You seem different," he observed after a moment. Emmeline blinked.

"Because I've curled my hair?"

Reggie smiled lightly. "...No, just little things. Your expression, and the way you carry yourself…" He paused a moment, hesitating. "You look happy."

"I am," Emmeline muttered, gazing up at him. She had forgotten how tall he was.

Reggie, after a moment, shook his head and let out a bemused chuckle. "I always knew you were something special, Em, but never in a million years would I have thought you could properly tame a guy like Sirius Black."

"Yeah, well…" Emmeline couldn't help but grin sarcastically. "I s'pose a love potion can be a pretty powerful motivator."

She was only joking, but that was one of the more vicious rumors that had been circulating about her and Sirius, which Reggie had undoubtedly already heard. He gave a surprised laugh at the tone of her voice: "Oh, is Black teaching you sarcasm now?"

Emmeline giggled, blushing again. "I suppose he is," she said with a small shrug. "You have to learn how to keep up when around him."

Reggie chuckled, but after a moment his smile faded into a thoughtful expression. "You've changed so much," he muttered quietly. He then sighed, looking suddenly regretful. "I'm sorry, Em… about everything that happened between us this year."

Emmeline blinked up at him, surprised by his apology. She wasn't expecting him to say that, and for a moment didn't know how to respond. "Me too," she muttered finally, a little sad. She did feel bad about it, after all.

Reggie continued to frown, apparently struggling to say what was on his mind. Emmeline simply stood there, waiting for him to speak.

He finally opened his mouth: "I know I acted stupidly, what with the Quidditch fame and everything. You didn't deserve to be treated the way I treated you." He looked legitimately sorry, and Emmeline felt twinges of sympathy for him in her heart. "My last year at Hogwarts didn't exactly turn out the way I wanted it to, and I wish we could have at least celebrated my graduation together." He gazed at her imploringly. "If I hadn't done what I did to you, we might've been okay… right?"

Emmeline stared back at him, her eyes sad. Though she loved Sirius now, she still carried a great deal of affection for Reggie in her heart. He wanted reassurance from her, but she cared about him too much to lie to him. She slowly shook her head.

"No," she said quietly, and Reggie looked slightly taken aback. "We wouldn't have been okay, Reggie. What happened, happened – you can't change it. The moment you started getting noticed by everyone, you started pulling away from me. You rose to the top and left me behind..." She stared sadly into his eyes. "I could never be with someone who's capable of doing that to me."

Reggie blinked several times before glancing down at his feet, his face flushing. Emmeline's heart thudded uncomfortably; she felt awful for being so direct with him, but it was the truth. She was with Sirius now, and any vague hope Reggie had for a second chance with her needed to be nipped in the bud.

"I'm sorry," she whispered sincerely, and she managed to give him a small, bright smile. "But I think it's wonderful you finally graduated! You're finally going to be out in the real wizarding world, then. I just know you'll do great."

Reggie nodded. "Thanks," he said quietly, unable to meet her gaze. After a moment, he began to turn around, his eyes still downcast. "Well… I guess it's goodbye, then."

Emmeline hated leaving him looking so sad, but knew saying goodbye right now was for the best. "G'bye, Reg," she said, using her old nickname for him. She thought she saw him smile sadly to himself before turning around completely and walking away.

~/~

"Everything okay?" Sirius asked once Emmeline had returned to their trunks, now loaded on a cart. She didn't answer him – she merely walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, tucking her head against his shoulder with a small sigh. Sirius simply smiled and held her.

"That bad, huh?" He rubbed her back in a comforting way. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Emmeline sighed again before lifting her face up, propping her chin up on his shoulder. "No, it's alright – Reggie and I had to have a real talk eventually. I'm just glad it's over."

Sirius quirked his lips. "So a big black dog doesn't have to bite his leg off then?"

Emmeline giggled. "No, he doesn't. Although I doubt that dog would actually bite someone's leg off." She squeezed him tighter. "He's too much of a sweetheart."

Sirius grinned at her, the affection in his expression evident. "You think so?"

Emmeline's eyes were shining as she gazed up at him. "It's why I love him."

Sirius leaned down to peck her on the lips. "And why he loves you."

"Emmeline!"

Sirius and Emmeline turned – a short, balding man was standing near the gate and waving at Emmeline. She waved back, a huge smile on her face. "Dad!" She finally let go of Sirius to grab the handle of the cart, ready to head over to her father. She turned back to Sirius, still smiling. "Are you coming?"

Sirius still looked slightly apprehensive, but nevertheless moved up beside her to grab the cart handle too.

"Let's go," he said confidently, and Emmeline smiled widely at him.

As one, they pushed their loaded cart into the massive crowd of people, heading over to what was sure to be a happy, glorious future with unlimited, unstoppable potential.

* * *

**Special thanks to all my readers who stuck with this story to the very end! And an extra-special thanks to those of you who reviewed! I felt encouraged to continue writing this story because of you:)**

**The scene in Chapter 18 where Sirius gave the book to Emmeline and she kissed him was the very first thing I had written for this story, even before Chapter one. I knew even then that I wanted to write a Sirius/Emmeline love story, but I didn't know where to start – although I did know that that was where I wanted it to go eventually. I feel so very happy and fortunate I had the opportunity to write up to that chapter and beyond!**

**I have absolutely loved writing this fic – thank you guys so much for reading it!**

**StrawPahj **


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